Halloween Horror Stories
by Legend Maker
Summary: This Halloween...the world is bestrode by sheep. The wolf has come.
1. Halloween 2005: A Horror Story

**_A Horror Story_**

Writer's Note: As much as I would like to claim full credit for this story idea, I cannot. It is based on another story posted on an internet forum by a poster dubbed Nimb00da. So if Nimb00da somehow finds this some day and wants credit, well, there you go.

This is also a prelude to the (coming eventually) Danny Phantasm story, which is my take on Danny's immediate future, so if you're curious over something mentioned in this story, or wondering what the hell I'm talking about well…all will be explained in time.

Now, let's hope I can actually scare you or creep you out…and if I don't, well I tried.

* * *

Night. 

Dark and chilly.

To Danny, the house looked to be the size of Buckingham Palace.

That wasn't a good thing. He could feel it in his bones.

Another thing to consider: most of the lights of the house were on. But from what he could see from the air, it appeared no one was actually in the house. Considering what he had heard, that did not bode well.

Maybe it would be better if he waited.

But like nearly all the time, he didn't, as he swooped down and landed lightly on the porch.

It escaped his mouth instantly, a breath of icy air…air so bitter and foul it briefly made his gorge rise.

Yeah. This didn't bode well.

_"Hello, you've reached Ghost of a Chance, how may I help you?"_

_"…I-s this M-madeline Fenton?" The voice on the other end of the phone spoke. A woman's voice, somewhat frail: in her mid-fifties, one could guess. In her chair, Maddie sat back and ran the voice through her head, trying to see if she could pick up any inconsistencies in the tone or manner that would indicate a fraud. They had a pretty good system set up to weed up pranks and hoaxes, but no system was infallible. Still, the woman had her number, and if she had actually gotten through to speak to Maddie that meant she had passed the phone test beforehand where she was asked to list any and all paranormal activities: the supernatural tended to follow certain patterns and if the answers didn't match up (and they WOULD if the average person had witnessed some kind of intrusion of a spirit into their life…a spirit…or worse…), the phone call was terminated and the number blocked._

_"Yes it is. How can I help you?" Maddie said, keeping her tone strictly business._

_"…I…my family…we need help…I didn't know who else to call…"_

_Maddie furrowed her brows, thinking it over. Motion to her left, and she glanced at Tucker, who was making gestures that indicated he wanted to know if he should start recording the call. Maddie thought it over for a second and gave him the go-ahead. Tucker flipped the switch, and immediately the call began playing over his headphones._

_"Ok Miss. I know you already answered some questions beforehand, but I need to ask once more. First, what's your name?"_

_"P-porter. Embeth Porter."_

_"All right Miss Porter, can I have your address?"_

_Embeth Porter proceeded to give a very detailed and accurate address, perhaps showing a little too much trust, but she didn't have to worry about that with Maddie. She glanced at Tucker, and he immediately put it into his computer's map system._

_It came back immediately, a good sign. It meant it was real and less likely to be a prank. People who wanted to fool them often gave them fake addresses or vacant lots or a list of locations that were on the 'false' list: places people THOUGHT were haunted but weren't._

_Of course, it also was a bad sign._

_Because that meant the trouble was real._

_And who knew how much trouble it could be._

Most people thought Danny's new long coat was a _Matrix_ fixation, but there was more to it then an attempt to look 'cool' (and in reality Danny didn't care if people thought he was cool or not, not any more): it also had a lot of pockets to hold stuff, including the charm Danny was swinging in front of him at the moment. Verifying his initial 'analysis' as if were.

If it were bad, the charm would smoke. If it were really bad, it would burst into flame.

There was no reaction. That either meant everything was ok or…well, something that went beyond bad. The former was much more common then the latter though, and Danny slipped the charm back into his pocket.

A brief flash of images crossed his mind. Shadows and darkness and…things.

"Yeah I know." Danny said over his shoulder. He thought it over and decided he'd knock at least.

The door slowly swung open at his touch, with an almost cliché groan of rusty hinges.

Danny stared into the house. Looked normal enough.

Of course, no one was here, and the door had swung open at his touch.

Perception and reality could often diverge most drastically.

_"It started about four months ago." Mrs. Porter said._

_Maddie arched an eyebrow and looked at Tucker. Four months meant a lot of things in supernatural matters, but combined with her voice…_

_Maddie gestured at Tucker, and he nodded and turned to his array, as he flipped a switch and adjusted a microphone under his mouth, while Maddie grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and started making her own notes while listening. Just in case it WAS important._

_"Danny, do you read me? Over." Tucker said into his microphone._

_"…Yeah Tuck. Hear you fine. What's up?"_

_"We have an interesting call. You want to listen in?"_

_"If you think so. Nothing happening here in the Ghost Zone."_

_"Well your mom does." Tucker said as he flipped a few more switches. In the Ghost Zone, Danny suddenly heard the conversation that his mother and Mrs. Porter were having._

_"My family is quite extended Mrs. Fenton…and we don't range far, so there are often many people staying in my house. When it started, we thought it was just…the children…"_

_"Buzz. Strike one." Danny said._

_"Nightmares you know. They claimed that someone was sitting on their beds…sometimes whispering in their ears…they never told us what the whispers were, claimed they couldn't remember…but whatever it was, it scared them. They didn't want to stay in the house. They said it was bad now. That was their words."_

_"But you didn't listen because they were children and what do children know?" Danny said to himself. The image of a hand falling on someone's shoulders in a disparaging way flashed across his mind. "Yeah I know I'm being cynical. But this always seems to happen…"_

_"But we just thought it was the children, you know, scaring each other and then dreaming of it later…they always stayed together so we thought that explained the fact they were all having them…"_

_"Strike two." Danny said._

_"I see. How long was it before…stronger signs that something was wrong emerged?" Maddie asked._

_"A month."_

"Hello!" Danny called down the hallway.

No answer.

"Hello! Is anyone there? HELLO!" Danny called again.

No answer still.

Danny thought it over once more, and then stepped through the doorway.

The walls didn't immediately try to eat him, so he took that as a good sign. However, just in case, he closed the door. Sometimes all it took for an escape to happen was an open doorway.

Still, he didn't feel all that great, so he slipped his hand behind him, the fingers brushing the hilt of his weapon, a hilt he gently gripped as he slowly walked down the hallway, taking each step with care.

He had taken six when he noticed it.

He took another step.

There, an immensely faint echo, a sound that would barely be noticed, last maybe a quarter of a second after Danny put his foot down.

Like something was stepping in almost the exact same time as him.

_"When it started getting…bad…I noticed something. All the happenings…they were concentrated on the east wing of the house. I recall this because we have an antique chair passed down through our family positioned near the hallway entrance to the hall and more then a few times people…tripped over it. While…running."_

_"I see. Can you tell me what these bad things were, Mrs. Porter?"_

_"Well…it began with my granddaughter, Rosemary, she's six…I have an extended family, as I said: I'm one of four children, I have three children myself, two have grandchildren, Rosemary's my youngest daughter's child…"_

_"That's very interesting Mrs. Porter but we need to know what happened."_

_"I'm just saying this so you know that I'm not making it up. If you..ask any of my family…"_

_"I understand Mrs. Porter. But please, tell me of the first intensification." Maddie said. She had heard the very slight hesitation in Mrs. Porter's voice though: though she claimed her whole family would support her, Maddie had a feeling there was someone who had doubts, someone with enough family 'power' to sway the opinion to 'Nothing is out of the ordinary.' Maddie knew those people: arrogant fools who often caused more suffering then the spirits. Maddie had a flash of Embeth Porter hiding in her room or worse, in a closet, cradling the phone to her and hoping no one would discover what the 'foolish old woman' was doing. Well, Maddie vowed, she would at least find out if that was the case, and act accordingly._

_"Rosemary sleeps in the east wing, on the third floor. One day she came in looking tired. When we asked why, she said someone was scratching on the roof above her head and she couldn't sleep. We just thought she was dreaming again, and just hadn't gotten a good night's sleep…but it happened again. And again. So after four days my son-in-law, her father, went up to the attack to see if there was an animal trapped up there…"_

_Silence._

_"Mrs. Porter?"_

_"He found claw marks. Deep gorges in the wood. They were on the floor right over my granddaughter's bed!"_

The in-time footsteps stopped, almost immediately, as if it knew Danny had noticed them.

Danny stood there for a bit, wondering if he had just been imagining it. After all, he was in here alone, with no backup…

_"Strike three." Danny said. "I've heard enough. What was that address again Tuck?"_

_Tucker recited it off._

_"There's a weakening of the realms I can access that will put me out near there. I can go check it out immediately."_

_"What? Danny, is that safe? Even with the Magnus…"_

_"Tuck, I'll be fine. But I know that if I just stand around and do nothing, that poor woman might not be." Danny said. "Tell my mom. Danny out."_

_Danny's headset blipped out, and Tucker sighed. That was Danny at times: wanting to help and certain he could. Well, Tucker couldn't stop him, so he went back to recording the information._

And here Danny was, in the Porter house.

Of course he'd made a few errors. Time for one. The Ghost Zone, in its current state, had ways of plunking you out all over the globe…of course, Danny didn't always correctly figure out what time it would be there.

Night could be bad. Darkness…encouraged certain things.

Danny walked on, one hand on his blade, hoping he was prepared.

_"We moved her out of the room…but that was just the first incident. After that…it started getting worse." Mrs. Porter said. Her voice was starting to choke up, fear and grief intermingling, an old woman who had lived her life comfortably in the way she had been taught the world was, until the world seemingly started to betray her._

_"What, Mrs. Porter?"_

_"…Doors slamming in the middle of the night. Objects going missing and turning up in strange places: I once found some of my perfume in the freezer, frozen, ruined. Random power failures that only affected our house. One day I left the kitchen for twenty seconds and when I came back all the chairs around the table had been turned upside down. I suppose that could have been the children, playing a prank, but it was such a short time, and there wasn't a single sound…and then…oh god, then it got even worse. My children gave me a cat for my 45th birthday. I'd had her for ten years. She was so sweet, so friendly…" Mrs. Porter said, and then her voice was swallowed in a sob._

_Maddie let her collect herself._

_"What happened to your cat, Mrs. Porter?"_

_"We found her…in the east wing…in the bathroom. She was dead. Someone…something, had shoved her down into the toilet."_

The main hallway exited into a master room, beautifully decorated. Danny assumed this was where guests would be seen. The door in front of him lead to the kitchen, and the doors on either side of him lead to the east and west wings of the house.

The only problem was, Danny couldn't tell which was which. East and west were properties Danny mostly associated with maps: for normal things he used left and right.

However, Danny didn't need to gamble: only one door had a large antique chair next to it.

Danny thought it over. The bad stuff was supposedly in the East Wing. No sense charging headlong into danger. He'd scope out the rest of the house first, see if he could narrow down what was going on, as he headed for the west wing.

He kept a hand on his sword anyway. Just in case.

_The back of the mobile command center opened. Tucker glanced to see who it was._

_"The assignment was a bust. Just a pair of paranoid brothers, no sign of the paranormal. What's up?" The enteree said, sitting down and putting her gun back in the rack._

_"Maddie's taking a call. Could be trouble Val."_

_"Oh? Sounds interesting."_

_"Might not be. Be quiet." Tucker said, as Mrs. Porter, who had started crying again, finally calmed down._

_"I knew…that none of my family would do that. We have our…flaws…but none of us could have been…so cruel…!"_

_"I believe you Mrs. Porter. Was that the most recent event…?"_

_"No! It was just the beginning! It…" The voice cut off in a sob again._

_"It's ok Mrs. Porter. Take as much time as you need."_

_"I just…part of me can't believe it…"_

_"That's normal Mrs. Porter. Trust me, it definitely sounds like there's something off in your house, for lack of a better term. But I need to know what else happened."_

_"…My mother."_

_"Your mother?"_

_"My mother. Pamela Porter. She lived with us…Mrs. Fenton you must understand, my mother was quite along in years, but she was still sharp as a tack. She wasn't the type to wander around aimlessly."_

_"If you say so."_

_"…She fell down the stairs. Broke her neck. Died…instantly."_

_"I'm sorry Mrs. Porter."_

_"Thank you."_

_"So you feel there was something more to this then an accident."_

_"My mother climbed those stairs without incident for decades. There was no soft spots, no bumps or distortions to trip over, no loose carpet, nothing…she may have been slow in her last years, but she was sure. No…I was near when it happened. I heard her scream…it wasn't a scream of someone making a mistake. It was a scream of terrified surprise. Someone pushed her."_

_"I see. Was there anyone else in the wing at the time?"_

_"…N-no, just me…at least I think…"_

_"All right Mrs. Porter. Is there anything else?"_

_"Yes…the last time I saw her…just before she fell…she came out of the same bathroom."_

Danny was climbing stairs himself, slowly stepping up each one, and listening in case the echo returned.

"You feel anything?" Danny asked. A flurry of question marks crossed his eyes. "Yeah, me too. Things like us should set poltergeists off. It's not like them to be so quiet…"

Danny reached the top of the stairs without incident, and started heading down the hallway.

_"After that…it was quiet…for a little while…my family…chalked it up to bad luck. But then…oh god…"_

_More sobbing. Maddie didn't like making Mrs. Porter relieve these painful memories, but she was just doing her job._

_"My younger sister, Carrie…she had a teenage daughter. Sidney. Sidney's had a…tricky adolescence…we've been trying to help her…she backslid recently, but we managed to catch it before anything drastic happened. She said she was ok. And then…four days later…"_

_More sobs._

_"You don't have to give me details if you don't want to Mrs. Porter"_

_"I have to…because that morning we found her in the bathroom. The same bathroom. Dead, in the bathtub. She'd…she'd cut her own throat!"_

Danny settled for exploring the hallway for the moment. The bad feeling he was getting was coming back, and if this was just the west wing, he didn't have a good feeling for the east wing.

The hallway was pretty bare, except for several pictures on the walls. Landscapes, thankfully: if it had been portraits of people Danny definitely would have had his sword out. Pictures of people in such a place combined with such a feeling never spelled anything good.

Pictures…and a plaque. A rather dusty one at that: it looked like the house hadn't been cleaned for a bit. But what was a plaque doing on the walls? A dedication? It might be a clue…

_"She cut her own throat?" Valerie said in disbelief._

_"It's doable Val."_

_"How?"_

_"You just need the right…motivation…" Tucker said, though he had a feeling motivation was the wrong word. Meanwhile, Mrs. Porter was still going, her sobs finally slowing down._

_"The police…they investigated…but they didn't find any evidence of so called foul play. No sign of a struggle, a history of depression and drug use…and when I last spoke to the detective he said that forensics indicated that the cut…matched the type that self-inflicted wounds are. They wrote it off as a suicide. But I know, I KNOW that Sidney didn't kill herself. Maybe she was at risk in her down periods, but she had recovered! We would have seen signs if she had backslid again! And even so…Sidney hated pain! She couldn't have done what she did…someone made her! I know!"_

_"I see." Maddie said. "So that was it?"_

_"No…no…there was one last thing. It's what made me call you. After Sidney's death, my family…they started to fracture. The servants, they're um, mostly…Hispanic…they left. Told me my house was cursed. Some of my family…they agreed. Not all of them. My oldest son, Jonathon…he said it was just a bad run of luck. But my youngest, Wesley…he said it wasn't. He said that something bad HAD entered our house, and it seemed to be focused on the second floor bathroom. He…brought a priest in to exorcise the place, despite Jonathon's objections. The priest did so, said he thought he did feel some bad vibes…so he performed his exorcism and left."_

_Silence. It was the kind of silence that Maddie recognized as containing great pain, pain that even tears couldn't express._

_"We found Wesley in his room two days later. He was dead, hanging from the ceiling. His face…it was…distorted…it looked like he was…smiling at us…laughing at us…like he was mocking whatever had happened. Like it was all fun and games."_

The plaque was dusty, and the light was dim, so Danny had to brush at it for a bit before he could actually see what was written on it.

It wasn't a dedication. It was just two words, and they made Danny's blood run cold.

EAST WING.

Danny took a step back, staring at the words, thinking about what he had done…and how easy it was to move a chair across a room.

The sound drew Danny's attention, and Danny turned to see a door nearby slowly swinging open out into the hall.

Danny stood there for a bit, looking at it…and then he started approaching.

_"That was the last incident. We buried Wesley…two days ago. And despite what my son says, that Wesley was always a bit off, and that he had debts he found out about afterward…he didn't do it. Just like Sidney. There's something bad in my house Mrs. Fenton. The ones who believe that…they've run away. But I can't run Mrs. Fenton. This is my house. I've lived her my whole life. I can't just…leave…"_

_"No one's asking you to Mrs. Porter. Yet." Maddie said. Now came the hard part. Mrs. Porter had been willing to talk about recent tragic events…but sometimes the hardest things to talk about were the old ones._

The inside of the room was as black as a tomb, as if no light could enter there…until Danny reached in and felt along the immediate inside of the room. He found a light switch and turned it on. Light flooded the darkness, chasing it away.

It was a bathroom.

_"Mrs. Porter, I think I can help you. Now, who is in the house now?"_

_"…Myself…one of my sisters, her older children…that's it, everyone else has left."_

_"What about your son Jonathon?"_

_"My daughter and he had a terrible row over what happened to Wesley. He's staying at a hotel for a few days with his family. She's left town for a day or two…or so she says. I wonder if she's coming back…"_

_"All right then Mrs. Porter. Now there's no easy way for me to say this, so I'm just going to come right on out and say it. I need to know the secrets."_

_"…What?"_

_"I need to know the truth Mrs. Porter. About what's happened in that house."_

_"…W-what, I just told you…"_

_"What has happened recently. I need to know what's happened in the past."_

_"Nothing's happened! This…just began…four months…!"_

_"You say that Mrs. Porter. But looking down the list of occurrences…Mrs. Porter, these things very rarely happen without some kind of background."_

_"There's nothing…!"_

_"Negative energy such as this needs a source Mrs. Porter. That source is never pleasant. Chances are that whatever you know, you were taught at an early age never to talk about it, to anyone, to hope to bury it and pretend it never happened in the hopes it would go away. But it doesn't Mrs. Porter. And I need to know what it is."_

_"There are no secrets!"_

_"What is it? A suspicious death that could have been murder? Suicides? Madness? Has anyone in your family ever been known to dabble in the occult?"_

_"No! There are no such things in my family's history! We've lived here since our grandmother's mother's husband built the place, we've had our problems but nothing, NOTHING like that! You must be mistaken!"_

_"Chances are I'm not." Maddie said, looking over the list she had taken._

_"I just want help! I don't want to be accused…"_

_"I'm not accusing you of anything Mrs. Porter. But I need to know."_

_"Are you sure it's not something else Mrs. Fenton?" Valerie asked._

_"…I admit Valerie, there are a few variables. But you have to remember, there are always certain signs. Incidents like this…we need some kind of tragedy or atrocity in the past…or…or…" Maddie said, as she looked over the list one last time._

_And a sudden realization came to her._

_A terrible, horrifying realization._

_She had been approaching this from the most likely possibility…but it could also fit…something else._

_Something that shoved a dagger of pure ice into her gut._

_"Mrs. Porter, I apologize. I need you to do something for me. You say all these terrible things have happened over a span of four months."_

_"Yes!"_

_"And no one has ever lived in your house besides your family."_

_"Yes."_

_"And nothing like this has ever happened before."_

_"Never!"_

_"…Ok Mrs. Porter, this is VERY important. I need you to swear to me, truly swear, that there ARE no deep dark secrets in your family's past, no rumors, no hints, no gossip, NOTHING."_

_"I swear!"_

_"That's not good enough!"_

_"I swear, on the lives of my children and grandchildren, that there are no secrets in my family's past!"_

_"……………………………………"_

_"Mrs. Fenton? Mrs. Fenton."_

_"Get out of the house."_

_"What?"_

_"GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! NOW! **NOW!"**_

It seemed like a perfectly normal bathroom…but Danny knew better. Unfortunately, he hadn't stuck around to hear the whole conversation, and hence didn't know as much as he should.

He stepped inside, on instinct closing the door behind him, and not realizing it as he stepped into the room. In front of the door was the sink, a large ornate mirror hanging over it.

Danny turned on the sink. Normal water. The toilet was normal as well.

The shower was closed.

Tightening his grip, Danny went against the advice of every horror film there was and slowly approached the shower, slowly reaching out with his free hand…

He yanked the curtains aside.

Nothing.

Danny checked the bathtub. Nothing there either.

And then Danny whirled around, feeling like eyes were watching him.

…Nothing.

The house was so quiet all Danny could hear was his breathing, as he slowly walked back over to the door. There appeared to be nothing wrong…

Danny glanced at the mirror again.

And froze.

His reflection was normal. The room's reflection was normal.

The door was open in the reflection.

EXCEPT IN THE ROOM IT WAS CLOSED.

Danny's head jerked back to the bathroom door. Closed. He slowly turned to face the mirror again.

Open.

And something was in it.

_"Mrs. Fenton, what's wrong?" Valerie asked, as Maddie extracted a promise from Mrs. Porter for her to get everyone out of the house immediately and then terminated the call, nearly flying over to Tucker's computer setup._

_"Tucker, find us the quickest way to that house! And contact Danny and tell him to meet us there!"_

_"…I already contacted Danny. He said he was going to go there himself…"_

_"WHAT? WHEN?"_

_"…A while ago…"_

_"DAMN! Valerie put your seatbelt on!" Maddie said as she jumped out of the back door, running off._

_"What's going on Tucker?"_

_"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Tucker said, as he called up the command center's databases and began entering in all the information that he had heard from Mrs. Porter's phone call, and once it was all entered Tucker punched in several other commands for the database to eliminate angry ghosts that may have been trapped in the house by whatever dark means Mrs. Porter claimed had never happened._

_With that possibility eliminated, only one match came back for all that had happened. Tucker felt his mouth go dry._

_"…Oh no." Tucker said. "An Unclean."_

_In other words, a demon. Terrible evils that, with the incident that had started this new chapter in their lives, were able to make their way into this reality. There were more then a few of those kinds of being, but these ones, dubbed Unclean, were entities so malevolent ghosts were afraid of them._

_"…Oh god." Valerie said, as she too put the pieces together._

_"God won't help us." Maddie said as she jumped back into the vehicle. "Even those kind of spirits need time to begin doing what happened in that house."_

_"How much time?" Valerie asked._

_"NOT four months!" Maddie said, jumping into the driver's seat. "We need to get there, QUICKLY!"_

_"But Danny…"_

_"Valerie, trust me as his mother. I know damn well what danger Danny's in." Maddie said as she started the engine. _

_"But you said that there wasn't enough time…"_

_"You misunderstood. I wasn't saying that these things could NEVER do it. I was saying that if it DID do it…it's powerful. Terribly powerful."_

_"…Are you sure?"_

_"Yes Valerie. Because if an Unclean can go from entry to outright murder in such a short time, it's strong. And not just one murder, it's several, within weeks of each other! It's not satisfied with just one! And something as powerful as that to be able to do it in such a short time can hide its presence from Danny until it's too late! No wonder the poor woman's son's face was distorted like a grin. It WAS laughing at the son's attempt to exorcise it." Maddie said grimly._

_"The priest couldn't drive it out?" Valerie asked. Maddie looked at her, very grim._

_"Valerie, something that strong could eat a stack of Bibles for breakfast." Maddie replied, and threw the vehicle in gear._

Something hung in the doorway, spinning in the mirror. A dark object, hanging from a rope.

It slowly stopped spinning, facing Danny, as Danny looked with wide eyes upon the sight.

A girl. In a white dress, with long black hair, her head titled at a sickening angle, her eyes closed.

Danny blinked. It rather reminded him of the girl from the _Ring_ movie, Samantha or something…except she was fake. This was terribly real.

Danny slowly began backing up, staring at the girl, not moving his gaze from the mirror, as he reached behind him and tried to open the door.

He found the knob, and tried to turn it.

It wouldn't budge at all, and instinctively, Danny's eyes flicked to it, and then back to the mirror.

She was still there.

Except her eyes were open, staring at Danny.

As Danny felt the unbearable presence of the creature, concealed from him, sink into him, as the entity looked at him, her neck now straight, her mouth bearing a cold, malicious grin.

The lights went out, plunging the room into utter darkness.

And in the dark, Danny felt a small cold hand grip his arm.

* * *

"Mother, how many times do I have to tell you?" The young man said as he got out of the car. He had brown hair and strong features, despite wearing glasses: it gave him the look of a young professor, and since he was wearing khakis and a sweater, maybe he was. 

Mrs. Porter was a small woman, her hair mostly gray, though her face was mostly wrinkle free. She'd done what the woman had said, convinced her sister and nephews to leave the house with her…but the place she had gone was the same hotel her son was staying at, and she, being a dutiful mother, had told him what happened.

She shouldn't have. He hadn't believed her, as usual. When she'd tried to call Maddie Fenton back all she'd gotten was a busy signal. Jonathon Porter had enough respect for his mother not to tell her she was an idiot, but he was certainly thinking it. His grandmother may have kept her mental facilities her whole life, but his grandfather had died from Alzheimer's, and Jonathon had a sinking feeling his mom might be going down that route. How else could it be explained that she could be told to abandon her home by a group of ghost hunters, of all things? She'd probably been tricked by a group of thieves that had robbed the house blind while it was abandoned. Well, if they had, maybe that would teach her that there were a lot of bad people out there.

"But Jonathon…she sounded so sincere." Embeth Porter said.

"That's not hard to fake mom. Trust me." Jonathon said as he went up the walkway to the house.

"Jonathon! Please don't go in there!"

"Why? Will something get me?" Jonathon replied, a bit more smarmily then he intended: damn, this was his mother, he loved her, he shouldn't talk to her like that. But he couldn't tolerate such nonsense. True, there had been a few odd things happening recently, but to attribute them to ghosts? Nonsense. The kids had probably just been pranking each other, and gotten out of hand with the cat. He knew kids, knew that youth could prevent understanding of a lot of things, including death. And after that…well, Pamela had been old. Sidney had been messed up. Even Wesley, his brother…well, he'd had some secrets of his own. It was terrible, but there was no hand behind it, causing it all, feeding on their suffering. The only ones who were doing that were the con men who had tricked his mother.

"Trust me mother." Jonathon said in a more kind tone, but firm nonetheless. "Let's just go inside and see if anything's missing. You don't have to be afraid. There's no such thing as…" Jonathon said as he opened the door.

The gigantic, distorted, screaming face threw him right off the balcony and onto the grass front of the house with a scream of surprise of his own, as Embeth stood rooted on the spot, as the horrendous visage, the size of the whole door, howled out into the dim early morning light, making a sound no human throat could ever make.

And then it was yanked back inside, as Jonathon looked up from his fall, his glasses crooked as he watched it be pulled back.

And then the house went crazy, as every door, window, and shutter began slamming at the same time, weird lights flashing in the windows, and once again that unholy wail split the air, screaming from within the house.

And then the whole house lit up from the inside like a star had ignited within…and then it faded away.

Jonathon blinked, having no idea what he had just seen.

He just knew that even he couldn't explain it…and that maybe he'd been a bit premature on the whole issue of evil being an exclusively human trait.

"John! Are you ok?" Embeth said, running up to her son.

"…Yes…mother? Are you all right?"

"…I'll live." Embeth said.

Jonathon didn't know what else to say or do, so he stayed on the ground. He faintly heard the sound of what sounded like an approaching vehicle, a powerful one at that.

Danny walked out onto the porch, his coat torn to shreds, his outfit clawed in several places, and his hair a disheveled mess. In one hand he held a long katana glowing with purplish-red energy, energy that was fading away.

Danny took a few breaths of the fresh morning air, then spun the Magnus up and sheathed it. He reached up and brushed hair out of his eyes.

He saw them then, on the front yard…and in the distance he saw Ghost of a Chance's mobile command center, the souped-up version of the Fenton RV, hastily parking. They must have found out what he did and raced to help him. Well, better late then never. They could talk to the Porters about sufficient compensation.

Danny walked down the steps, as he looked at the two. Mrs. Porter he assumed.

"…This house is clean." Danny said.

And then he walked on.

The End


	2. Halloween 2006: How To Make A Monster

_**A Horror Story 2: How To Make A Monster**_

_Writer's Note: Like last year, this story is a peek into a planned future world I have for Danny Phantom known as Danny Phantasm (which I WILL write. Someday). So if you're wondering why things are like this, and what certain things are, well…you'll just have to be curious, won't you?_

_Unlike last year, where I tried to do more of a straight up creepy ghost story vibe, this year I'm going to try and examine a different type of horror. Maybe it won't scare you…but horror doesn't always need to scare. After all, as you will see, it comes in many stripes... _

* * *

_What is a monster? Well, thereby hangs a tale… _

Holy Cross Cemetery. Yeadon, Pennsylvania, just south of Philadelphia.

It had started to rain. Of course it would have started to rain, as the heavily modified chassis of what had once been an RV pulled up to its front gates. The vehicle would have drawn attention in New York City, let alone an out of the way place like the small town of Yeadon…but no one was around.

It was probably best that way.

The fingers blurred as they rapidly typed some commands, and then hit a final key as paper began printing out.

"This should give you a good idea of the layout…though I have a feeling considering what we saw back there you'd be able to find it with a skill hunting dogs would envy without any outside sources." Tucker said, as he looked at Danny, as he darkly snapped his sword sheath over his back. "Danny, are you sure you want to do this alone?"

"Yes. For everyone's safety." Danny said darkly, as he reached into his coat, which was hung up against the side of the mobile command center, poking his hand into one of the pockets and extracting two trinkets. He did not put the coat on: he did not need it now. "I need you to plot the quickest trip back to Chicago we can muster. Ghost zone warps, unless you absolutely can't manage it. Time is not on our side." Danny said.

"…It's ok. They're tough. That piece of garbage never had to deal with the likes of them."

"He's had plenty of time to learn. A lifetime, and more." Danny said, as he headed for the door. "Please hurry Tuck."

"What, no goodbye?" Tucker said, trying to lighten the mood.

Danny looked at his best friend, and Tucker felt a slight chill go down his spine. For lack of a better term, despite his still firm, determined front…Danny looked haunted.

Then again, that was common, considering the things they were encountering now. Human beings weren't meant to deal with such things…and Danny was still human.

"I'd rather not, Tucker." Danny said, as he grabbed the shovel, opened the door, and stepped out into the rain. He did not say the rest of his sentence.

He did not say goodbye…because after what he'd just seen, Danny has a sick feeling of the chances it could be his last.

* * *

_What makes a monster?_

_Well, let's start with the simple ones. Some things are just born monsters. Or rather, the way they exist means they cannot be viewed as anything else._

_That's why we're traveling around the world, sealing these holes. Not just because we're the good guys doing the right thing, though that's definitely part of it. But another part is the simple sense of violation these things stir in your heart and soul, merely by their looks, their presence, their very existence. The fact that we were able to adjust to the existence of ghosts without an inkling of the sensation we get in the company of these entities only drives the point home further: ghosts can exist in our plane, but these things cannot. It is a desecration of the natural order, a blasphemy. They are evil, and they cannot be tolerated._

_And if you'd like to argue that people once thought that way of black people and homosexuals and the like, well yes, perhaps there is some tentative link. But believe me, we have some of the softest hearts you'd ever know working with us at times._

_And the opinion is unanimous. Send them back where they came from. Destroy them, annihilate them, purify them. They do not belong and THEY MUST GO._

Of course, just because this is a universal human opinion doesn't mean it's a universal solvable problem. That's where we come in…

Twintouch, New Mexico. A tiny slice of human life once a few dozen strong, tucked away in the middle of nowhere, so out of touch with the rest of the world it doesn't know it's dead yet.

Far too perfect for some…and as unimportant as it may have been, tragic all the same.

The strangest thing about the arm (which is female, probably late forties, and had probably been wearing a long sleeve blouse when the…problem had come) is that it seemed so…out of place. The end lacks a speck of blood, and hardly the slightest trace of dirt. It's as if a mannequin arm suddenly became flesh while simultaneously warping out of the store and into the street. The nails, painted a light pink, are undamaged. No sign of a struggle. No fight, even in one brief burst of desperate fear. Just normal one moment…and this the next.

Danny leaned town and, with a very gentle hand, touched the limb.

And it crumpled, the pink of the flesh flashing gray before it disintegrated into windblown ash. Danny recoiled as the arm suffered this abrupt change, as if it were just waiting for one final touch of the world it had known before revealing its true self. No wonder it seemed so out of place. It wasn't even a severed arm. More like…a brief echo of a flickering of life that had been debauched so horrendously it has ceased to exist in the way casual death could never match.

Danny knew what did that to living things, and a flicker of rage followed his sickened horror, as he reached behind him and drew his blade.

The flash of a shadowy creature that had a mouth filled with fire flickered across his eyes.

"Most likely." Danny said, and tapped the ultra-small knob that was placed in his ear. "Danny here guys. I'm still not sure what breed of creature's skulking around here, but do NOT let it get close. And another thing…no mercy."

"Roger that." The voice of Danny's mother replied in his ear. "RBD's armed and ready. And if you're feeling that way son, I'm sure none of us have any moral hang-ups over the use of extreme force."

"No ma'am."

"No ma'am."

"If it comes to that Miss Fenton."

"No, mom." Danny said. "Keep your eyes peeled. These things are most likely sneakier then…"

And then he saw it.

At first, he almost thought it looked like a moose…albeit one turned inside out. Then he thought it looked like a gecko lizard whose head had been replaced by some meat that had spent some time in a food processor. Then he thought it was a lobster, albeit one that was a bizarre goldish-gray then red, and also having arms with mouths filled with razor sharp fangs rather then pincers…and even as it started changing AGAIN, he realized it didn't really matter what it was, because its shape was so against what humans could comprehend his mind couldn't properly register it, hence the shifting.

And when it shrieked at him, Danny didn't hear it in his ears. He heard it in his nerves, as if someone had shot an injection of hot wax straight into his cerebral cortex.

"I have a target." Danny said, as he reached behind him and drew his sword, as both green and purple energy exploded on the blade. "I suspect a group attack."

He wondered why he was so calm, considering the escapee from a piece of Lovecraftian horror he was facing, but the truth was…this was in your face. There was nothing hidden.

There were worse things…because they were more subtle about their aberrant status.

The thing charged, running on the legs of a quadruped one second and then a twisted cross between a spider and a centipede the next, opening a mouth that did worse then bite and tear, it poisoned flesh and corrupted the soul, the poor people of this town had had no chance when these things had slipped through…

Danny closed his eyes as the thing leapt.

A flash of green and purple.

And the thing split, right down the middle, the pieces flying past Danny.

He opened his eyes again. Locking vision with these types of creatures was asking for trouble. Better to let oneself be guided by one's other senses.

Danny turned and looked at the twitching mess. His eyes narrowed in disgust.

Green fire exploded on his blade, and he thrust it at the remains, burning them away, leaving nothing but scorched ground.

"I got one." Danny said. "How many are left?"

"Scanner said six before you got one, but I'm not…"

And then a low thud of noise came from a few streets over.

"Hey, that sounded like a RBD being detonated, but why wasn't there a confirmation of…" Tucker began

A muffled curse tore through the radio.

"Mom?" Danny said, as his nerves suddenly screamed. He couldn't forget his advantages, advantages his mother didn't have despite her skill…

But he didn't get a chance to go help.

As the ground erupted beneath Danny, and purplish-brown tentacles lashed up and seized him, and before he could even yell out in alarm it yanked him beneath the ground.

"Oh crap! I just lost Danny!" Tucker yelled inside the command center. "Maddie, reply! Are you still there?"

"I'm…occupied…" Maddie growled, as she tried to keep the multi-jawed mouth away from her head, her staff the only thing keeping the snapping horror that had pinned her to the ground away from her. She snapped her head to the side as a dollop of thick drool dropped down, barely missing her ear (well she had her hood up but it was still right next to her ear) as it hissed and began to eat into the ground, and she had to get out of his problem she was a sitting duck…

But well prepared, as the toe of her boot opened and an electrified blade sprang out, and she kicked upward, feeling the blade enter and rupture something: if the thing she was facing had been a normal animal and male perhaps she would have hit the testicles, maybe she had, as the thing shrieked, like burning knives being driven into her brain, but she didn't let it overwhelm her as she twisted and threw the thing off, as she rolled up, grabbing her sidearm, and as the thing rolled and tried to get at her again she fired, its head exploding like a ripe melon, as it reared back, thrashing, even as Maddie kept firing, blowing its body to pieces. It collapsed in a gory mess, bleeding blueish-blood into the ground.

A shadow fell over Maddie, and she jerked around.

The thing was utterly silent as it flew, on five mismatched wings that should not have been able to catch the air properly, its stomach opening up like a Venus flytrap…

Maddie fell backwards, the thing swooping over her, its mouth snapping shut.

It missed catching Maddie.

It did not miss the explosive she had tossed into its gnashing maw.

It exploded into a raining, fiery mass of gore ten feet away, as Maddie twisted back out her feet, her bo staff at the ready…but there seemed to be no current threats…

To her.

But to Valerie Gray, the threat was obvious, as unlike with Maddie, the corrupting entity had chosen to approach her face to face from down the street, clearly underestimating her capabilities.

That just pissed her off.

"So, you think I'm just some bitch to hump?" Valerie asked, as she opened her black glove to reveal a small, circular device.

She threw it on the ground.

A low "WHUMP!" noise came from the mechanism, as green energy exploded from it and washed over the surrounding area, including over the entity facing Valerie (at the moment its 'shifting perception nature' made it look like a dog)…as the monstrosity shifted, its body suddenly becoming more clear and visible (though it still kept changing around), its feet seemingly pressing down more on the ground. If the creature noticed this, it gave no sign, as a vicious grin passed over Valerie's face, clearly visible through her clear faceplate. Damn, she loved RBD's.

"Be advised, you bastard, I'm not. I'm mean, nasty, and tired. I eat concertina wire and piss napalm and I can put a round through a flea's ass at 300 yards. So why don't you hump somebody's else's leg, muttface, before I push yours in." Valerie taunted.

The creature charged at her. She knew it was going to, had fully expected it, as she opened her other hand, as the small square cubes floated up in it.

They did not shoot lasers though, oh no, Valerie had a MUCH better idea, as the thing closed in and leapt…

As twin cubes flew from her hands and right into two of the creature's eyes, piercing right through them.

Valerie leapt and rolled out of the way as the creature went crazy, as the cubes flew on. As much as the thing's flesh changed around, Valerie tended to notice that if something had eyes attached to something that even remotely resembled a skeletal structure, its brain wasn't far behind.

And she was right on the money here, as the cubes ripped through the open tunnels into the twisted skull and began bouncing around inside, reducing the matter within to pudding, as the creature did its horrible silent but not scream and collapsed, unpleasant fluids leaking from its head.

The cubes flew out and back to Valerie, and with another gesture several powerful lasers shot out and burned away the thing. Perhaps she could have done that to begin with…but where was the fun in that?

Unfortunately…pride did go before a fall.

The barbed tongue grabbed her from behind, catching her completely by surprise, and before she could properly dig in her heels or activate a defense she was yanked backwards through the air, as the creature's mouth yawned open to devour her, body and soul…

The tongue exploded as a bullet tore through it, snapping it clean off, and even as Valerie fell to the ground and the frog/insect/unsure but maybe it was a goat thing shrieked another bullet flew through the air, fired from the distance at great accuracy, striking the monster and then exploding, blowing the thing into a splattered mess that sprayed all over Valerie.

Valerie blinked, still shocked at how flat-footed she'd been caught.

"You said something about being able to shoot a flea's ass at 300 yards Valerie, perhaps you should have found another movie to quote." Came a voice in Valerie's ear. Valerie's eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth.

"Oh shut up!" She snarled back. "Stupid spoiled little…just because you…if you didn't have your precious ghost bonding you couldn't do sh…"

"Valerie." Maddie said, as she hopped down from a nearby roof. For a moment Valerie thought she was going to be chastised for her comments, but she quickly realized Maddie didn't sound cross, but worried.

"Yes Mrs. Fenton?" Valerie replied: she may have had trouble with SOME female members of the group but she respected Danny's mother.

"Have you seen Danny?" Maddie said, sounding worried.

"…No…not since we split up…" Valerie said, and then engaged her own radio. "Tucker, where's Danny?"

"I don't know guys, he went right off the radar over a minute ago and that's not easy to do unless…" Tucker said…

And then he became aware of the shaking beneath his feet, as he looked away from his screens and around at the inside of his vehicle. Was that an earthquake? Did New Mexico get earthquakes? He turned back to his screens and pressed a few buttons, trying to get a reading…

He got one all right. And it wasn't an earthquake. It was something that made Tucker damn glad the command center was parked outside of town on a small desert dune overlooking it.

Because since Tucker was getting a vibration even from so far away, to Valerie and Maddie it was like being inside a giant shaking can, as the town shook and began to collapse beneath him. Valerie leapt into the air, her glider appearing beneath her as Maddie jumped up and grabbed on, flying away.

As the street erupted, and IT emerged, and as it reared up before the two, even as more of it emerged from beneath the town, as the roads and buildings were torn apart by its coming, the entity that had spawned the others. It looked like a giant squid…if it had been crossed with a bear. And a wild boar. And a platypus. And a few other animals Valerie couldn't even begin to describe, and worse, as it rose up…

Its noise was so loud it even affected Tucker and the other members in the command center, and Maddie and Valerie briefly felt, as it screamed, like they were taking a bath in molten plastic…

…and then suddenly a great wound erupted on its form, and green light streamed forth, as another wound tore through its flesh, and another, and another, and it reared back and bellowed its unholy roar…

And then it exploded in green fire.

When the light died down, there were no remains of the unnamable thing that had slipped through a crack in reality and ended up in this small town. Only Danny, floating there, his eyes closed and his blade held before him.

"Danny?" Maddie called, as Danny took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He HATED it when they ate him.

"It's done mother." He said calmly, already banishing the horrors from his mind. He didn't have time to dwell. Others would surely come. Worse then this. "The bigger they are."

_Of course, such things are not much different from rabid animals. They cannot help what they are, and can't change. The concept of change is anathema to them. They're evil…but in a sense, that's understandable. It's all they could ever be, as disgusting as we may find them…_

_We speak of worse…and there is worse…

* * *

_

The rain was cold, a bone-deep chill that quickly spread through Danny, but he ignored it. He'd felt worse colds. At least this one was natural.

Though the pouring rain also made it immensely hard to read the makeshift map Tucker had printed out, and in the end Danny only got two good looks at it before it was snatched from his hand and blown away. In the end though, that was enough. Tucker had been right. From the way Danny had felt since he entered the cemetery, he probably could have found the spot eventually even if he'd been blindfolded.

He could sense it, and what radiated from it, a poisoned taint that was beyond human ability to feel on anything on the deepest, most primal levels.

The wind picked up as he walked through the headstones, the whistling turning to a high pitched shriek as Danny came to a small, blank space. There was no headstone, no marking of any kind to indicate that this was more then ground between the graves…but Danny knew.

It was under here.

And so, even as wind whipped his water-soaked hair and needles of ice pounded his form, he took a firm grip on the shovel and then rammed it into the earth.

And promptly felt like someone had set off a firecracker inside his chest, as he was hurled backwards, flying through the air and crashing through a crumbling gravestone, as the wind shrieked again, as if in warning. _This is beyond you boy. Flee before we destroy you._

But Danny had never been good at listening to advice that told him he couldn't handle himself, as he pushed himself off the wet grass and dirt, coughing violently for a bit as he wiped his mouth and checked the glove. No blood…yet.

He checked his pockets. Both trinkets lay crushed within. And not because Danny had fallen on them. Danny had a feeling that if he hadn't been holding them, as well as the sword on his back, it would have been a lot worse when he'd plunged the shovel into the ground.

"…Sorry." Danny said to the broken headstone, as he got back up and stalked back over to the spot, the lone mark Danny had made in the earth almost seeming like a festering wound.

Danny looked at the ground with a baleful glance. He knew that what had happened would have only happened to him. A normal man or woman digging up the ground would have experienced nothing except the fatigue associated with such an action. They did not have the…facilities Danny did, that let him see, feel, and experience such things. Were they blind or lucky? Danny could honestly not say.

But he didn't care HOW cursed this ground was. Nothing would stop him.

And so he raised the shovel and brought it down again.

The impact came, but far less fierce, though it did cause Danny to be forced back several feet in a skating motion, but he recovered much more swiftly, as he stalked over and rammed the shovel in again. This time the blow felt like a punch to the chest, but a half-hearted one, as Danny was finally able to get the proper leverage on the shovel and pull it out of the ground, disgorging a chunk of wet dirt.

In went the shovel again, as Danny was faintly aware of more impacts trying to occur, to crush him to a shattered pulp, but failing now.

But Danny had a feeling that was far from the last trick he was going to see. Not for something that had been so carefully placed, and has festered in shadows for so long, saving its energies if one such as him had ever come along.

Yet another example of the bitter humor that made up much of his life, Danny mused. Grave robbers of the older days would have encountered considerably less difficulties beyond the trouble of the actual dig and being caught, and they were committing illegal acts. Then again, so was Danny…but the reason he was digging up this grave, this featureless grave that bore no mark and seemed blighted from all but the most buried records, was far more virtuous then any larcenous intentions the old body snatchers had had. And for that he'd encounter trials that would have sent the most hardened criminals screaming for their mother.

As he rammed his shovel into the wet earth again.

And blood began issuing forth from the ground.

* * *

_Is evil a choice? Well, for some it is…and yet…some monsters really have no control over the environments that shape them. They come into a place that has known nothing but failure and despair, to the point where it resists change on the principle that it had grown proud of its hopelessness, lacking anything else…some escape. They are lucky. The rest either cower through life…or give into weakness and embrace the darkness of the place. Perhaps others spur them along, perhaps ignorance keeps them of being aware on some level of what they are doing…but one can only extend so much courtesy before one remembers that everyone has personal responsibility._

_Maybe they're not wholly responsible for being monsters, of all stripes._

_But that, most tragically, changes so little…_

St. Louis, Missouri.

Fissures tended to do one of three things. They either spewed forth terrible things, or attracted them like a magnet, or both. In a way, they worked a lot like the Hellmouth from _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_…except there were only a few Hellmouths. And they connected to just one plane of hell. When it came to Fissures, despite attempts to acquire such information, the file on how many there were, and just how many 'bad places' they had and could lead to.

Danny didn't try and think about that. He focused on the task at hand. Find them and close them. He knew that if he kept pressing forward, he would eventually have them all locked up. Reality would resume its normal path, without outside influences being so high and strong.

He'd though this one was a good one. He'd seemingly found it early. Only a few shards of dark-dimensional trash, easily taken care of, was in the vicinity of what Danny had assumed was once a crack house, now dilapidated to the point where no one would even squat in it any more, or maybe the Fissure had just driven that unfortunate aspect of society away. He'd found the Fissure and locked it up, and had been content at a job well done…

He'd yet to learn that there were times to feel such emotion in tasks such as this, and immediately afterward was asking for it.

Though they just sounded like faint pops to him, they got Danny's attention, as he still hadn't 'come down' from the completed task and still had his senses on full alert. And as Danny realized, they were coming too fast to be something like firecrackers or cars backfiring.

Those were gunshots.

Danny headed for the wall and phased through it just in time to see the figure flee into the alleyway, his pursuers fast on his heels.

And that's where he made his mistake: he jumped.

The mistake being, he should have flown. He moved a lot faster, and he might have made a difference.

Instead, he jumped.

And hence was still in mid-air when the figure tripped, and just as he was getting up his pursuers stopped and opened fire.

And for all Danny's efforts, death came. His unique connection to the world of the living and one aspect of what could come after it gave him a unique sense of when such a crossing occurred. It took various forms depending on the death…and cold blooded murder was not a pleasant one, a fierce bitterness on the back of his throat.

He should have flown.

Too late now, as he landed, as light as a feather, unseen in the alleyways shadows. He grit his teeth slightly. He was not used to dealing with purely human matters, but that didn't mean he wouldn't.

His hand found his blade, and he drew it, as he walked forward. He couldn't pull off the intimidating 'creature of the night' routine that most urban vigilantes needed to strike fear into their targets. He was too thin and lanky to impress with size (though that didn't mean he wasn't strong or tough, oh no, but image mattered despite that) and the fact that his black coat color-reversed when he transformed made it difficult to hide in shadows. But Danny had a few tricks.

Bright glowing green eyes for one. And a flaming sword.

Unfortunately, his attempted intimidation game was lost on him as he stepped forward and got more of a look at who was in the alleyway.

Specifically the victim…no more then twelve.

Danny's heart sank. Kids. He HATED it when it was…

"He won't be talkin' now." One of the assassins said.

…kids…

"Hell no."

…Oh dear god, any benevolent god there was, the killers were kids too, they couldn't be any older then fourteen, they looked like they hadn't even started shaving yet…

But they all had guns.

And, as Danny stepped from the shadows, as they saw him, as he looked down at their victim and then back up at them, still not wanting to believe it…they had eyes worse then any ghosts. They were living, but their eyes were dead.

Childhood lost…more like childhood annihilated at a molecular level.

"SUPERPIG!" One of them yelled.

And then they were shooting at him.

Danny was almost too stunned to defend himself…until images flashed before his brain. The sword, his, in his hand, shining forth light, breaking down the shadows before it and forcing them away.

And there was no distinction between the shadows. Darkness was darkness.

He got the message.

His body phased out again, the bullets going through it as he walked towards the child killers, keeping the glowing green eyes.

None broke and ran.

In the end, that perhaps broke Danny's heart the most.

The sword slashed out, tearing through the guns, and that was when they ran, but Danny didn't let them go. He knocked one out with a love tap to the head. The second he seized with ghostly energy and pinned to the alley wall, a trick that was hard to do with humans but the child was so small it worked this time. The last he caught with a tie-up bolo he'd forgotten he'd had in his coat until two seconds ago. He was amazed that he hadn't tied himself up by accident instead.

And the children cursed him, used foul language that would have made Danny blush in less terrible circumstances, but he ignored it, as he looked at the dead child.

The questions came, those terrible questions. Why was he facing such evils, if this is what humanity would produce? The Fissure may have had some influence in the events Danny had just witnessed, but much like a magnet needed to be charged to work, it couldn't attract bad stuff if there was no bad stuff to begin with?

How…why should he defend something like this, as he looked at the one he'd tie up, still cursing at him. So young…yet so angry. No compassion, none whatsoever. They'd been willing to kill Danny as soon as look at him, and Danny had a sick feeling that may have been the case even if he'd hadn't stumbled onto their crime.

Why suffer so much for…

New shadows fell over Danny, and he turned around.

And he had his answer, as he saw the three men who had entered the alleyway. Assumingly the 'handlers' of the child assassins, and with eyes just as dead, their ice polished to a refined shine by greater years of experience, revealing a more 'cultured' rage and sickening contempt that radiated from them as they looked at Danny.

"Shoulda stayed on the rooftops, hero. Should have stayed off our streets." The leader said with a sneering lip, as if his outrage at being told his version of life and all he had to destroy to get it was virtually divine, and how dare you tell him different by acting as you had. "You've disrespected the 18th! You got to go down!"

And a new gun was aimed at him.

Danny narrowed his eyes. He had his answer. It was a familiar one.

As much despair as the concept of defending the world that could produce this could bring, giving up was worse. The only thing evil needed to truly win was for good men to do nothing.

And Danny was good.

The gun fired.

And Danny smacked the bullet from the air, sending it flying into the wall to his right side, sparks flying from his sword as the impact rang through it.

In more then a few ways.

Danny didn't let them fire a second shot, as he swung the sword up, even as it went clear, the blade transparent, and came down, cutting through the gangbanger's wrist.

His hand did not come off in a spray of blood, indeed, he didn't suffer any tissue damage at all.

But he sure didn't feel that way, as it felt like every single nerve in his arm was suddenly on fire, as he screamed and dropped the gun, falling to his knees as he clutched his arm.

The second swung a chain at him. Danny caught it on his sword and gave the thug a modified version of his Ghost Stinger, as even as he flew back and hit the ground, twitching violently the third came at him, swinging a baseball bat, shards of broken glass glued onto the end.

Danny ducked, and in one smooth motion, as the bat swung over his head and caused the third man to inadvertently turn and expose his back to Danny, Danny grabbed him by the shirt and hurled him into the wall of the alleyway. He bounced off with a muffled curse, landing on his feet and staggering back…and Danny put an ectoplasmic blast into his back, sending him back into the wall with a thud, this time knocking him unconscious.

But the first one, the one that had had the gun, was going for the gun again…

Danny's sword slashed out and carved it in half moments before his fingers could seize it again. He looked up at Danny with naked hate.

"MUTHA-!" He screamed as he swung a fist at Danny.

Danny caught it with his free hand, stopping him dead.

"No." Danny said.

And green power began crackling on him, as he brought his surprising strength to bear, as he once again drove the gangbanger to his knees, as the man yelled and shrieked in anger, pain…and under that fear.

Perhaps some would have accused Danny of being racist. What they failed to realize was that the men and children in the alleyway could have been any color in the rainbow, Danny would not have acted differently in the least. Deeds mattered, not what covered them.

"Disrespect the 18th?" Danny said calmly. "Look beyond me at what you've done. Look. If you can. How could anyone respect it in the first place if that is what defines it."

Danny tightened his grip, just a touch above the pressure needed to break bone, even as his power coursed down and through, causing a painful, paralyzing effect. Normally, he hated doing this with people…but at the moment, such kindness was rather low in his heart and soul.

"What happened? Did you give him a beeper and a gun and tell him what a man he was, but when a mistake revealed the child he remained, you decided he was too much of a risk? Or maybe this was just some random initiation. Prove your worth to the family. More like sign away your soul." Danny said. "I don't pretend to be an expert in the complicated socioeconomic problems that are probably at work here. But there are some things that are always simple. And one is, murder is murder."

And with that Danny relinquished his grip.

"Maybe someday you'll realize that the suffering that I inflict on you and yours is what you should feel for what you've done. Maybe someday you'll realize I'm offering you back your humanity."

And with a powerful punch, Danny sent the last of the crew into unconsciousness as well.

"Sadly…I have my doubts." Danny said, and sheathed his sword.

"YOU DEAD MOFO!" One of the kids screamed again, the one pinned to the wall, his rage freshly ignited again at Danny's 'victory'. "NO ONE DISSES THE 18TH AND LIVES! YOU'RE DEAD…!"

Danny gestured, and the ghostly power pulled the child killer off the wall and brought him to Danny, who managed to muster a baleful stare, one that actually managed to silence the boy's vitriolic tongue.

"I am dead?" Danny said calmly. "Well, I'm afraid you and your group are a touch late. You see, one could say I'm half-dead already. As for completing the equation, well…worse has made that promise then you. Much much worse. And I, as you can say, am still here."

And Danny tossed the boy back against the wall. The impact this time finally sent him into the sleep of his fellows. He said nothing else, as he left the alleyway on foot.

He could hear police sirens in the distance. He did not question their origin, as he walked on.

Less then a minute later, she came, swooping down on her glider and landing next to him.

"Wow, equating your ghost powers with being half dead, we'll made you hardcore yet Dan-"

"No. Not now." Danny replied quietly. Valerie blinked. She'd seen most of the incident, had been the one who called the police, using a few tricks she knew to ensure a swift response, and she knew what she'd seen.

"Danny…"

"I know. Whatever you say, I know." Danny said, as he walked on, leaving the closed Fissure and the small thing it had managed to work behind…the thing that didn't really seem small to Danny.

Perhaps the worst part was, compared to what might yet come, he might one day long for this.

"That doesn't always help." Danny said.

They walked on. Other evils awaited.

Much worse then this. Much, much worse.

_Though I'm not dismissing the tragedy of this. It's in a way the worst of evils, because it seems so…negotiable, so dismissible, we can't change it, why bother. Why even try to interfere in the process. You see how they act, they like it, they think it empowers them. Never mind that in getting them young, and giving them a false family, a bad attitude, and permission to do the worst seemingly without consequence…and you're not making them powerful. You're just making them monsters._

_Yet…part of the tragedy is in the end how small it seems. How petty, how pointless. Maybe they're monsters…yet their teeth only seem so big. Perhaps in the end, that makes them more heartbreaking then anything._

_But if one cannot define that as the acts of monsters…then really what is?_

_I wish I didn't have more options to list…_

* * *

The blood seemed impossibly warm as it splashed on Danny's feet, as he stopped and stared briefly at the wet earth. However, there wasn't a trace of shock or horror in his eyes.

"You'll have to do better then that." Danny said tersely, and rammed the shovel in again. Moore blood sprayed forth, spraying on his shoes and legs, splattering on his body, steaming in the cold air, but Danny ignored it (though he kept his mouth firmly shut, just in case, he didn't want THAT going in). He was starting to make progress, blood considered…

As a skeleton hand tore from the earth and seized his ankle.

Danny looked at that for a moment…and then ripped his leg free with a powerful jerk.

"If someone else's bones were disturbed from their rest, rather then want I believe, you have my solemn and most deepest apologies." Danny said under his breath as he kept digging.

More hands erupted from the ground, their bones clearly not human, but Danny kept digging, even as more blood soaked him, as he battered at any of the hands that tried to grab him with the shovel and kept hurling the earth aside…

And then abruptly it was all gone. The hands, the blood, everything, vanishing into thin air.

Danny gave no indication of his satisfaction. It hadn't been a great leap of logic to consider the kind of tricks that could be played on a human's sight and sound and mind, and the kind that would most like be found here…

He kept digging.

"Hey, what are you doing! Stop that! HEY! STOP!" Came a voice nearby, and Danny did stop, for a moment, to look at the middle aged man in a rain slicker who had appeared, staring at Danny's digging. "STOP! I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

"…Then do so." Danny said, and resumed digging. The man in the slicker (the graveyard caretaker, perhaps? A mourner picking an odd hour to visit? Or…something more sinister…?) stared in gape-mouthed shock.

"Sir…if you are really there…" Danny said, as he kept throwing earth aside. "You'd best call the police, because I am not going to flee into the rain having been caught in this ghoulish task, and while I do not want to do any harm to you, I cannot let you stop me if you decide to do so personally. Please, just keep that in mind."

The man in the slicker stared a bit more…and then he did run, fleeing back through the graves. So maybe he was real, and maybe Danny was on a timeline.

He ignored it. Police, he could deal with.

He'd had bigger prob-

The shovel struck something solid.

* * *

_I suppose some monsters aren't so bad. I mean, haven't most of us in our childhoods read Where The Wild Things Are?_

_But this is not a life where such benevolent entities are given such. No._

_There is a theory in some mindsets that all creative work is not creative at all, but a unique form of perception. That the writer somehow sees past the boundaries of this reality into another, and writes what he sees there. The interesting note of such a theory, of course, is that means somewhere, all forms of fiction, all forms of creative expression, really exist._

_Including monsters._

Frankfurt, Germany. 

In the 19th century, a German physician named Heinrich Hoffman, attempting to buy a book for his child, became dissatisfied with the options available to him and instead purchased a notebook and wrote and drew his own stories. Said stories were called _Der Struwwelpeter_, and in modern times they would probably send most parents into a state of shock. Many have forgotten what children's tales, long sugarcoated by changing opinions on what was right for a child, once were: cautionary tales for growing adults to warn them of the world's dangers. They were often cruel and immensely gruesome, at that.

And _Der Struwwelpeter_ wasn't any different…including one brief poem that warned a child not to suck his thumb, or a 'great tall tailor' would come for him…

_The door flew open, in he ran… _

_The great, long, red-legged scissorman…_

The shears snapped closed on the spot where Danny had just been as he dove over the table in the office, rolling again and flipping to his feet. The juxtaposition was not lost on him: here he was in a gleaming, tall skyscraper…and here was a creature out of the dark era of hamlets and straw hats, a great tall tailor with red pants and three foot long scissors. And it didn't matter that Danny hadn't sucked his thumb since he was two, apparently the Tailor wanted to make up for lost time, as he smiled a toothless smile over thin lips, raising his giant, bloody shears. He'd already claimed three victims before Danny had arrived, and that was three too many.

"Come on then." Danny said, gesturing.

The Tailor charged. Danny leapt up onto the office table, and then leapt again as the scissors closed where his ankles had just been, as he kicked the Tailor away upon landing and drew his sword. The Tailor swiftly returned, stabbing his snapping blades at Danny's stomach, but Danny flipped off the table and over the Tailor, whirling around even as the Tailor did. His giant shears yawned him, and Danny met them with his blade, as the two inhuman weapons clashed.

"Come on Danny!" Came Tucker's voice in his ear. "You can do this, easily! Take it like a man!"

"Like a man?" Danny said in confused, as his eyes glowed and he blasted the Tailor backwards with ectoplasmic energy. "Are you serious? How exactly am I supposed to do that? It's one thing to take a bullet like a man but exactly how does one take three foot long razor sharp scissors…!"

The snapping blades bit at Danny's head, and he brought his sword down to intercept…

As the shears closed on the blade, and with great surprise Danny found his weapon being yanked away and tossed across the room.

Again, that sickly grin.

"Oh no." Danny said.

The scissors tore at him, and Danny half stumbled half ran backwards, trying to keep away from the scissors (he couldn't go intangible this was a evil entity who'd slipped across dimensions even if he went into that state he was afraid he'd still find the scissors affecting him and cutting him to pieces), as the Tailor gave vicious pursuit, the shears bloody and giant, thirsting for more, as Danny ran, ran from the creature…

And leapt to the side as the Tailor lunged.

And crashed out through the window behind Danny.

It may have been a monster made manifest, but it still had to follow the rules of gravity, as it fell.

It was hard to take a multi-story fall like a man too.

Danny peered out the broken window, looking down at the splatter that had been the Tailor, as he held out his hand and his blade returned to him.

"And that's why you shouldn't run with scissors." Danny said. "Sorry buddy. When it comes to fear, I'm afraid Grant Morrison and Human Entertainment already beat you to the punch. Or the scissors, rather."

"Danny, there might be more then one thing in there." Tucker said in his earpiece.

"Really? It better not be Der Kindestod…" Danny said as he turned and went back into the building.

_Then again, that's really a case of paint-by-numbers. If it looks like a duck and talks like a duck…in a way, perhaps it is as much trapped by its nature as it is in its description. Is that a true monster?_

_No. A true monster comes from choice…

* * *

_

He hadn't dug down six feet, but Danny wasn't surprised to have come across something at such a shallow depth. The opposite, in fact, from what he'd heard of this grave and who was buried here…and what'd he done. In life and in death.

Danny kept digging, getting rid of more dirt, keeping an ear open for the police if they came…

Which probably explained why it caught him off guard.

It was the force again, except this time it transfixed him in place as it pummeled him with immense fury…and that was the lesser of the sensation, as even as Danny's body was barraged with blows he felt like at the same time he was being sliced with razors, like piano wire was being pressed and torn into every inch of his skin, like someone had rammed drills through his eyes and corkscrews through his ears even as they rammed a bladed jackhammer into his gut.

He would have screamed, but the pain had stolen all his air.

* * *

_Do signs of intelligence denote choice? If the monster shows cunning, shows joy in its task, is that the final indication of it being a monster?_

Toronto, Canada.

Supposedly a safe place.

But there are exceptions to every rule…and some are quite exceptional indeed.

What exactly it was was uncertain. It looked partly like a human woman, partly like a bird, and it had some lizard characteristics in a long furless prehensile tail, but whatever it was, it was clearly hungry, depraved, or worse, as it swooped down into Nathan Phillips Square and made a beeline for the fountain placed there, and worse, the several children splashing about within.

Until Danny came crashing down on it in a powerful tackle, driving it prematurely to the ground in a rolling crash as people screamed and fled, as Danny tried to keep his sense of place working as he tried to hold down the creature's thrashing form…

The tail grabbed him by the neck, yanking him backwards, and as Danny gagged the tangle turned and suddenly a clawed bird foot seized him, as the flying creature surged off the ground and back into the air, dragging Danny with her as he tried to get to his sword.

The air went out of him in a whoosh as the creature slammed Danny into Toronto's city hall.

"Well now…" The female whispered in a breathy tone, as she traced Danny's face. "Aren't you a cute one…I could just eat you up…"

A long tongue flicked out of the female's mouth and traced Danny's face, as he tried to recoil…and yet…there was a strange…attraction…

…Which settled what the creature was. A succubus.

"Come on boy…I can see the dark thoughts you've had…come with me, I'll show you things you never imagined…" The succubus cooed.

Danny punched her in the face.

"Sorry, but when it comes to women, I'm more then compensated." Danny said, as he yanked himself free and drew his sword.

The succubus shrieked and then dodged away from the sword slash, flying away at high speed, but Danny was already in pursuit, running across the side of the curved structure of City Hall as he leapt after the monster, slamming down on her back.

"And as you may have guessed, I like to be on top!" Danny snapped, and sliced one long wing open, blood exploding from the feathered limb as the creature shrieked and plummeted, Danny riding it right down into the ground to make sure it didn't get away.

It made an eerily dry crack when it hit the concrete.

Danny, having pushed himself off at the last moment, glided down near the body, even as it began to burn, its ability to exist on this plane negated by death. It was a handy factor possessed by some creatures. Didn't leave evidence.

"…Heh. Women." Danny said lamely to the shocked spectators, and then turned and leapt away, flying off into the distance.

Well, at least some people would have a story to tell. That meant something…

…right?

_Then again, perhaps that's little different from the first example, the only real choice being in the sophistication of the acts._

_No, true choice is when you can be either, good or evil…and you choose purposefully…

* * *

_

It was a horrendously potent defense, and it would have broken any normal man.

But Danny, as he'd long accepted, was not normal.

And so he fought it, gritting his teeth as hard as he could, as he fought back the pain, the sensations wracking his body for daring to touch this grave, as he knelt down, his fingers plunging through a thin layer of dirt and into the stone beyond, as he concentrated, his eyes shining bright emerald, as he brought his own power to bear, his own unique gift, battling back…

The power surged out, coursing through the stone beneath him, even as the wind shrieked and howled in his ear…

A shriek Danny answered with his own, as he pulled up and yanked the massive hunk of concrete up, tearing it up through the ground in one tremendous effort.

And just like that, all the sensation stopped. Even the wind died down.

He'd won.

This battle.

Danny set the massive block of stone down and then fell to the ground, his knees buckling as he gasped, sucking in air, even as rain continued to soak him.

This did not bode well for him, if this was the level of resistance he was encountering.

He looked at the hunk of stone he'd worked so hard to dig up. Even if he got what he needed from inside, he had a feeling it might not be enough. Even with the Magnus, and it…

A flash of shifting green came before his eyes. For a moment Danny was confused…

And then he got it.

"…Maybe." Danny said, as he stood up. "But first…"

Danny drew the blade, another reason he'd survived this. There was great power in the weapon, and in him as well…but pure strength did not so much matter here as strength used wisely.

And Danny had always thought he wasn't too bright. He had been a straight-C student before his life had changed so much, after all.

But there was too much at stake. Even if he was a dullard, he had to act.

But first…he needed what lay within.

Blackish energy sprang forth on the blade.

And as lightning flashed and thunder boomed, Danny slashed the sword up and brought it down.

* * *

_Choice…and yet even for some, there seems to be no choice at all. Slaves to damaged brains, unable to go against strange and powerful urges no matter how much they want to. It is true everyone is responsible for their own actions…but when one is sane and faced with one who is sick, it can nearly impossible to understand how much responsibility one can seem to possess._

_And if that failure of responsibility results in monstrous deeds, does that make one a monster?_

_I suppose it can…_

But…you'd be surprised.

Fargo, North Dakota. A boarded up house in the middle of nowhere.

And a strong disagreement of opinion.

"How can you even think of such a thing!"

"Valerie, it's been 42 years."

"It could be 42 _million_ years, it wouldn't be enough! Not with what he did!"

"Valerie, he's been trapped here ever since then, unable to move on, to whatever punishment he may have earned. He's suffered for it."

"I don't care! He should suffer some more!"

"Valerie…"

"No Danny! This is NOT a time to be soft! What does his pain matter for the pain he caused? What bitter legacies sprang forth from what he did? How can you suggest any kind of mercy?"

"….It's not right Valerie."

"It's DAMN right for once!"

"………."

"I know that look Danny, get that look out of your eye Danny, listen to me, you're not freeing that ghost…"

"….Yes. I am."

"….If you turn around and do that, then you can FORGET about us."

"…………………."

And with one last glare of rage, Valerie turned and stormed out of the house, leaving Danny alone.

"…Just go." A faint whisper said in Danny's ear. "She's right…I deserve it…"

"I'm not excusing what you did." Danny said. "A house that starts abandoned this long…shows how deeply you etched yourself in the memory of this community. But…the pain and regret I sense here remains sharp and fresh, while what you did once has long since faded in time. It is impossible to fake genuine regret…and for some, it's nearly impossible to think otherwise of such crimes…especially when it comes to children…but that didn't give them the right to march into your house and beat you to death. Everyone deserves a fair reckoning…even the worst of us. Because what better are we, if we don't extend such mercy? How are we different from the monsters then…" Danny said.

The room was silent, as Danny stood in thought, pondering it one final time…and then he raised a hand.

"I break the chains that bonded you to this place." Danny said as his hand glowed green. "I cannot guarantee what lies beyond. That's up to you to face. Go."

The final whisper was too faint to hear, as it passed Danny's ears…but he knew gratitude when he heard it.

He lowered his hand, alone in the room, the first person who had been alone in the house for a very long time.

And after a few more moments he turned and left.

She was sitting on the steps as he exited the place, her storming off apparently interrupted by something. She had her helmet off, and Danny could see the anger that was still fresh in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I'd just like to say one thing. Allow me that, please." Danny said. "I know how you feel, and why. I understand. So please try and extend me some of that same understanding. It is true I could have been tricked. I never claimed to be omniscient. Maybe my choice to extend mercy will just cause more pain then end it. And if that is true, it will be my cross to bear." Danny said. "But you don't have the same sense of the world as I do Valerie. There are many kinds of sorrow and pain. Some are self-righteous, some are insane…and some are true. But they all end the same way. Suffer too long, and the pain and torment turn rancid. And the rage comes. And when that happens, any chance of redemption is lost. And that, in the end, is perhaps our hardest responsibility. Battling these foes, it's far from easy…but showing mercy to those who might squander it, ruin it…that's the most difficult task of all. But as long as I can pass muster, I will not shirk from it when I feel it is called for."

And Danny turned and walked away.

For a few steps anyway, before he stopped.

"…I'm sorry."

And he walked on.

Alone.

…For a brief period of time.

And then she was floating alongside him on the glider. He looked at her.

"I don't feel like kicking your stupid soft kind ass at the moment, so I'm going to hand around until I'm more in the mood for it. You idiotic stupid…" Valerie said…and then she zoomed off on the glider, leaving her words in the air.

They could have been tinged with more anger and malice then they had been.

In the end, for things like that…you took what you could get.

_Choice._

_The man who lived in that house once, a poor bastard virtually lost to history known as Jeff Kober, chose to sexually abuse five children…but from the very little medical knowledge we have, one suspects with the way his brain was damaged from the moment he was born how little of a choice it was in many ways. But perhaps the greater failure of choice lay in the community that learned of his deeds and instead of bringing him to the law chose to take the law into their own hands. Yes, perhaps they were angry, and outraged, and rightfully so…but it can only excuse them so much._

_And after the spirit had lingered there, suffering not for his death, but as he had in life for his uncontrollable urges, Danny chose to make the fine distinction needed to know that, and then chose to set him free._

_And despite how much she disagreed with it, and despite how much her anger and her disgust shaped her thoughts at the time…Valerie chose to look beyond it, to try and understand._

_I expected nothing less. They're both strong souls._

_But…strength does not always lie on the side of the angels._

_I have spoken, at length, at what makes a monster. I've examined what many would call monsters of several stripes. I have mused on the factor of choice._

_So…what defines a true monster?_

_In the end…there's no real system. But there's one factor that always stood out to me._

_As was said by Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist._

_The devils who learn to do that…_

_Who can chose from the beginning to do works of evil and do so, who make those choices without regret, and are so terribly subtle that the scope of their crimes remains hidden under the light of a microscope…_

_They are the monsters. The true monsters._

_And we've found one._

_And as I write this, I fear he will eat us alive._

* * *

The bag seemed surprisingly light, stuffed with its foul contents.

"Tucker." Danny said as he headed across the cemetery, carrying his hard-earned gains in one hand.

"Danny? Are you okay?"

"Okay being a relative term, yes." Danny replied. "I've got them…but the grave was heavily cursed. I'm lucky I escaped as I did. And you probably know what that means."

"What's the site going to be like." Tucker said, a chill stabbing in his guts.

"Yeah. So I have one final question Tucker. Please tell me you found a proper shortcut. If I don't have one, I'm going to be at a bit of a loss."

"I got one Danny. Just a few miles out of town…"

"Good. You are not accompanying me."

"WHAT?"

"You're going to stay here and use the manipulation equipment. Because if I fail…at least you'll be far away when it happens. This is a far reaching curse, Tuck. If it comes down to the factor of minimizing losses…that's what I'll do."

"Danny…"

"No time to disagree Tucker." Danny said as he left the graveyard. "Now listen up and listen good, I only have time to say this once. After that…it's a matter of hope. Even with all I have…I'll need all I can get."

* * *

_Once upon a time, there was a man._

_And from the day he was born, he inflicted cruelty and pain on those around him. He tormented animals and small children as a boy, and as he grew older he began to engage in a series of bold frauds, his inability to feel the slightest shred of regret surely aiding him in those matters. He married and abandoned his first wife, even as he committed bigamy by marrying once more, and once again, the unions merely attempts to commit more acts of fraud. Finally, in the late 1800's, he moved to Chicago…_

_And there began a crime so immense, it seems amazing it is not as well known as the name of the killer who was called Jack, as through more fraud, trickery, and in some cases cold-blooded murder the man built a hotel supposedly to serve guests for the upcoming World's Fair in 1893. He built it slowly, hiring and firing work crews every two weeks to ensure no one suspected the true purpose of the building. And no one ever did, as it was completed in 1892, opened just in time for the Fair._

And in this demonic structure, the true evil of this man came forth.

Chicago, Illinois.

The portal opened on the empty street, and Danny stepped forward. He was not surprised that there wasn't a sign of life. Rather, he'd expected it from the sheer waves of malignant energy emitting from the structure he approached. The one he was now returning to. The one he might never leave.

_The building was not a hotel. It was a house of death, fitted with trap doors, hidden staircases, secret passages, rooms without windows, chutes that lead into the basement, and more. The rooms were not for accommodation, but for imprisonment, rigged with alarms should an unfortunate soul try to escape. Some of the rooms were asphyxiation chambers, rigged to suffocate prisoners with gas. Others were fitted with iron plates and had blowtorch-like devices fitted into the walls. Other were simple torture chambers, filled with devices to commit atrocities upon the human form. The building had its own crematory, as well as an acid vat and pits filled with quicklime to dispose of evidence._

_And there was much evidence to dispose of._

_It was a different time. Information could not be exchanged as well and as swiftly as it could be today. And this man was a true monster, who had hidden himself well, a spider in an invisible web of pain and suffering._

_To this day, it was unknown how many victims the murder palace claimed. Dozens, possibly hundreds._

_And the man enjoyed each one._

_But even as he destroyed life after life, he continued his schemes of fraud, seemingly unable to be content unless he was committing fresh evil every minute. It was the exposure of one of those plans that eventually brought about his downfall, forcing him to abandon his house of death and flee. His unending malice would not stop there though, as he would kill others, including children, before he was finally caught and his crimes fully exposed._

_The man went to the hangman's noose without a trace of repentance, changing and recanting his story even up until the trap door sprung. It took fifteen minutes of strangulation for him to die._

_It wasn't even close to what he deserved._

_Because humans didn't know, couldn't know the truth…_

_The Murder Castle sat empty for some time…and then, inexplicably, on August 19th, 1896, it abruptly caught fire and burned to the ground._

_And that was just the beginning…_

_Dr. William K. Matten, a coroner's physician who had been a major witness in the trial, abruptly dropped dead from blood poisoning._

_Then the head coroner, Dr. Ashbridge, abrupt did. Then the trial judge who had sentenced the man to death, as they had suddenly developed unknown, deadly illnesses. The superintendent in the prison where the man had stayed committed suicide, the reasons unknown. The father of one of his victims was horribly burned in a gas explosion. One of the priests who had prayed with the man before his death was found dead behind his church, some saying he died of uremic poisoning and some say he had been badly beaten and robbed. The jury foreman was electrocuted in a bizarre accident involving the electrical wires above his house. And although it took a few more decades, a train robber who had informed on the man and ultimately led to his being caught died violently as well…even as the office of a claims manager at an insurance company the man had cheated caught fire and burned. Everything was destroyed…except for two portraits of the man and a signed copy of his arrest warrant._

_But even after all that…people forgot. They had to. They could not understand._

_The lot where the Murder Castle stood empty for a long time, until a post office was finally built on it in 1938._

_And even then…employees reported strange sounds and sensations in the decades since, and many animals were repelled by the site, snarling and barking at it._

_And yet…the man's name was nearly lost, appearing only to those who would research the subject, never entering the lexicon like Jack the Ripper or Ted Bundy._

…_Because that was how he wanted it._

_Because the man was a monster, a true monster, and the greatest curse of true monsters is they cannot be defeated by death. He knew that, seemingly from the beginning…_

_That was why when he died he requested that his body be sealed in concrete, supposedly to defer grave robbers. The truth was far more horrific: the sealing was to make sure he remained tethered to this plane of existence._

_And that's where he had been since._

_With all his victims._

_Ensuring their suffering even beyond death, the old faces and the new ones he had claimed after his execution before he finally withdrew to the site where the post office now stood._

_Where he'd been given so much more power when Vlad knocked the world askew and allowed such terrible energy that had spawned and attracted the evils that Danny had battled across the world. A power that was like pouring gasoline on the man's fire._

_Where he planned to use this new power to drag so many more into his own personal hell._

_Where Danny and his team had gone to confront the terrible evil they'd sensed…and where Danny had been thrashed, hurled from the building, the evil in there far too deep for him to purge, and where the man had claimed more women to torment and kill and torment more if he was allowed his way…his mother. His friends. The ones he cared so deeply about._

_And so Danny had had to go to where the man was buried. He'd gone to the corrupt place where he'd been laid, the evil so intense it tried to fight him off. But he'd bested it there and now he had the link to the world the man needed. And so he'd come back, and he wasn't going to be expelled this time._

_If one would truly define a monster…this man would be it._

_America's first serial killer._

Danny kicked the door open.

"H.H. Holmes!"

No voice came to answer him. Danny didn't need it.

Holmes had been subtle before, but with the opening of a Fissure nearby, the entire building was utterly overflowing with negative energy. Danny had closed it, but it was far too late: Holmes had been doing evil before Danny's grandparents had been born, so great he'd managed to escape any punishment and continue tormenting those he'd killed even beyond death, denying them any peace or mercy.

No more. It ended now.

Danny walked into the building, which almost seemed to mock him with its normalcy, the darkness and corruption hiding within.

"I know you can hear me." Danny said. "And you know what THIS is."

Danny held up the bag.

"Your bones. Your link to this world. Nice trick, getting buried so far away and hence hiding your tether so well. But not nice enough." Danny said, as he drew his sword and pointed it at the bag. "Now here's what we're going to do. One, you can release my mother and friends, and the spirits you've tortured here for so long, and you can leave this place and take your chances…or I can burn these, cut the link entirely, and send you straight to the hell you've so richly earned and so brilliantly denied. Your choice. Pick swiftly."

Dead silence.

Danny's eyes flicked around.

And then it started, an infernal whispering, as the walls and floors began to distort around Danny. He grimaced.

"Why do they always want to do the hard way?"

The floor erupted in an explosive line, and Danny leapt out of the way as the building tore itself apart around him, as the shrieking rose up again, an unholy sound of self-righteous fury and terrible sadism as Danny was pelted with wood splinters.

And there were words in the screaming, words Danny could barely comprehend.

_**YOULITTLEPISSANTILLEATYOURSOUL……….!**_

The force seized Danny and hurled him backwards, smashing him violently through the wall, as the bag was torn from his hands, as Danny was slammed into the floor, as the ground erupted in fire and consumed the Halfa.

For a few moments.

Then Danny leapt up from the flames, discarding his burning coat, as he brought his sword before him.

Furniture flew at him. Danny slashed it to pieces. His mind was assailed by horrible scenes of torture starring the people he cared most about. Danny fought the false images off. The air burned and froze, reality turned into the evil soul that had lurked here so long's plaything. Danny took the battering and did not falter.

And the rage somehow grew, as Danny was seized again and battered against the walls and floor, and finally hurled through another wall where he bounced across the ground and lay still.

Blood began to leak above his right eye.

Danny got up as a black mist began to gather, manifesting itself before Danny, a mass of violence and pain forged by dozens upon dozens of years of work, a work that even death could not stop.

"Right, I think I saw this effect in _House On Haunted Hill._" Danny commented.

The mass surged forward and impaled through Danny, piercing through his heart. Once again, there was no tissue damage: this force wanted Danny's energy and life, not flesh and blood, as Danny was rammed against another wall with a shriek of pain. He tried to bring his sword down, but another tendril seized it and tore it from his grip.

_**KILLYOUBREAKYOUMAKEYOUSCREAMDIEDIESCREAM…!**_

"Door." Danny rasped.

And suddenly, behind him, a green line split the air, opening into a plane of shifting green illumination.

The manifest evil, caught off guard, tried to recoil…

As Danny seized it, and finally bringing his power to bear, he yanked backwards and around, hurling the concentrated evil through the rip and into the dimension beyond.

The Magnus returned to him, an image of a thumb pointing up coming to Danny's eyes.

"We're not done yet." Danny said, and leapt through.

And though he did not speak the works, they were clear on his expression.

_Thanks Tuck._

* * *

To be a general, sending your troops off to die…surely it couldn't be much worse then this. Tucker had done what Danny has asked, had stayed behind to manipulate the ghost portals so no only would Danny be dropped off at the evil place's doorstep but would also be able to move that exit in so Danny could go back through it with a guest (there was some advantage to all the soft spots between Earth and other dimensions that existed now, Tucker mused…then again, it had been much better days when the only portal to the Ghost Zone had existed in Jack Fenton's basement). But doing that put Danny off Tucker's radar.

And quite possibly meant he'd never see Danny again. This wasn't some thug with a gun. This was a man who had been born soulless and gotten worse. That kind of evil was more poisonous then cancer.

In the end, all Tucker could do was what Danny said.

Hope.

* * *

Once, Danny would have been very hesitant to dump something like what Holmes had become into the Ghost Zone…but the days when there were beings it in Danny would not wish harm to were gone.

But he couldn't dwell on that, as he emerged from the hole, even as the shrieking black mass turned towards him.

"Welcome to the Ghost Zone. Don't worry, your stay will be brief." Danny said, as he hefted his sword. "Because the only way out, and back to the little hell you forged, IS THROUGH ME!"

The mass screamed again, exhaling a seething ebony mist that swept over Danny. He stood his ground, even though he felt like he was being frozen, electrocuted, and poisoned all at the same time (poisonous freezing electrical mist? How in the hell did THAT work? Now THAT was scary!), and cut through it with the Magnus as he charged, slamming into the wretched entity.

It tore at him with claws and fangs, and battered his body with extradimensional forces that attacked his body and mind, but Danny did not back down, would NOT back down. There were those who deserved mercy…but this was not one of them.

He would not yield, even as it seized him again and pierced through him with more corrupting tendrils, trying to tear his soul apart as he screamed…

* * *

As back out through the ghost portal, in the now calm post office, its dark master removed…the biggest mistake of the creature once called H.H. Holmes became apparent. With it not there, it couldn't maintain the hold it had. Including on the living prisoners it had taken.

And on the ground lay Holmes's scattered bones, briefly forgotten.

Danny hadn't announced what he had to be dramatic.

He'd announced it because he'd hoped he'd be overheard. And he had been.

And so they emerged from the room, battered themselves, but with a cold determination in their eyes as they saw the portal, knew what Danny was going through on the other side.

"…You heard my son." Maddie said,

Valerie made an angry snorting noise and raised an arm, as her once again working suit extracted a wrist mounted flamethrower.

"Hasta la vista, asshole."

* * *

And the manifest entity in the Ghost Zone suddenly screamed in agony as its mortal remains burned in the real world, as Danny tore himself free from his grip.

"That's something your kind never understands. Working with others." Danny said.

Even as it burned, the creature still lashed out, as it fired a midnight black ray at Danny, but Danny thrust out a hand and with a blast of his own power shattered the attack, blowing away a piece of the shifting, furious mass. It shrieked again, sounding all too human, a human that was finally realizing nothing lasted forever.

As Danny raised the Magnus, and it too ignited green.

_**YOUREDEADBOY…!**_

"Yeah I get that a lot." Danny replied.

And he slashed down, as a tremendous blade of green energy flew from the sword and struck the manifestation of the evil that had lived, tormented, and survived beyond the mortal frame of H.H Holmes, but no more, as it gave one final agonized cry, and then disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.

Danny lowered the sword, taking deep breaths, as he usually did. It helped to calm him down, as he looked at where Holmes had been, now sentenced to whatever punishment he had earned.

Danny was sure it was a doozy.

"…Heh. Ichigo, eat your heart out." Danny said, and slid his sword back into the sheath.

* * *

_And that was it…for that, anyway._

_I reunited with my mother and friends in the post office, which was nice. Got a kiss. Which was quite nice. The other two were jealous. Not so nice, but they all agreed to work together. And then we all went back into the ghost zone, returned to the mobile command center, and decided a few days' break would be nice._

_And here I am this evening, finding Tucker fast asleep over this file he'd been working on. I'm not sure if it's an essay, a personal journal entry, or what, but since it's all about me anyway I figure I should offer my two cents._

_Tucker was right about monsters. Was Holmes truly one? My still aching wounds would agree._

_But Holmes was once quoted for something._

"_I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help inspiration to sing – I was born with the 'Evil One' standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he had been with me since."_

_Then again, evil making excuses for itself is nothing new. But it once again makes murky the waters of the question: what is it that truly defines a monster?_

_In the end, we may never know._

_But I know this._

_Whatever it comes from, it will find me._

_So take comfort, those who read these words, in your false monsters, in costume and in print, on pictures and in film._

_I'll handle the real ones._

_End file._

CLICK.

* * *

_**THE END**_

* * *

_And for those who think H.H Holmes is made up, well…try plugging his name into a search engine._

_Because, as Danny says, the worst monsters…are the real ones._

_See you next year._

_Maybe._


	3. Halloween 2007: Thrill Kill

_**A Horror Story 3: Thrill Kill**_

_If you somehow missed the FIRST two Author's Note's…_

_This is not the world of Danny Phantom. This is the world of Danny Phantasm, a dark re-imagining of the future of everyone's favorite ghost boy. Someday, maybe possibly this century, I will write more about it. For now, all you get are the glimpses…_

_I've done ghost stories and examinations of evil… This year however…I'm upping the rating to M for this part (I repeat, THIS PART IS RATED M YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) and going for the sheer visceral kick to the teeth. And worse damages…_

* * *

_Somewhere in the United States…_

_Perhaps in a small town much like your own…_

"You will RISE on my command!" Jimmy Flexner chanted, as he knelt over his makeshift alter (mostly constructed of some cardboard boxes and a black tablecloth he'd picked up at a Wal-Mart two towns over) and poured the makeshift mix of pig feces, internet-ordered herbs, and virgin's blood (his own) over the symbol he'd constructed as he began chanting in a dark, mostly forgotten language.

"_**SDR'AWKCA BSI'HTDEAROT EMITEH TG'NIKA TYLL AUYCTERUOY…**_"

Like many people, Jimmy felt his life sucked. He was tormented in school, he couldn't get laid, his parents didn't understand him, the usual. He'd grown to hate the world that was so nasty and fucking mean. And after finding a book tucked away in the dark recesses of his school library, he decided he'd do something about it.

_**"SGGE'RETSAERO FRELKC ITSASAWIT HGUOHTID NA…"**_

So he'd puzzled out that it was a book of dark magic and forbidden secrets and all that jazz, and he'd decided that he'd call something up, bind it to his service, and use it on all the people he hated. He'd be getting revenge and blowjobs in no time.

"_**WONKUOYOSTSU JT'NEMENIF ERNIAT RECAKC ALYAMYR OTSSIHT…"**_

Of course, like many people who had tapped into forbidden, terrible powers like he was currently doing, Jimmy Flexner gravely underestimated the kind of strength needed to do such a thing. Such a factor was greatly exacerbated by the fact Jimmy really _didn't _know what he was doing.

Such as the fact he was calling on the wrong 'client service'…

Or that his circle of binding had been broken by his mom's cat when it had pawed at it a few seconds before before getting a bad feeling and running away…

Or the fact the book had been whispering dark suggestions without him realizing it and the voice that spoke knew the barriers were weaker then it had once been and saw a chance for it and its fellows to finally return after so long…

"_**GNIOGPEEKLL EWSATH GIMOSRA FSIH!"**_ Jimmy chanted, as a cold wind began to blow outside and Jimmy's eyes gleamed as his alter began to float up. _**"T'TIE DAMU! OYTUB!"**_

And then Jimmy's eyes widened as he felt it come…and his heart turned to ice and the primal centers of his brain screamed…

But it was too late. Soon Jimmy was screaming.

And it didn't stop with him.

* * *

_Dictionary Dot Com defines 'misanthrope' as 'a hater of humankind'. That's really a bit too vague, but it's true. But in our cases, I find it tends to revolve around a certain kind of hate. The kind of hate you get when you think you're so much better then everyone else, and hate the fact that they're so much worse then you. Mainly because that fact doesn't make them worship you as the god you supposedly are. Like that. It's complicated._

_Thinking they're so much lower then you… makes it easy for people think they're so much higher then they are…_

_But God broke the Tower of Babel, and in humanity's case, being high just often means you have further to fall._

_The worst is when you land on someone._

Tucker paused in his entry writing, gathering his thoughts, as the rest of the team waited on tenterhooks to get the order to go in. It was strange how their hierarchy worked. Technically Maddie was in charge, she was the oldest and most experienced after all, but when her son put his foot down…

And with them waiting on Danny and Tucker lost in his thoughts, it's not surprising he didn't catch the time the gray, nondescript van was on their cameras, as it quietly drove by on the road below.

And it was out of sight, heading for its own destination, as Tucker resumed writing.

_Like the place we've found. Danny smelled it out. He tends to be drawn to two things. Fissures, and places where fissures have allowed bad things to go down. And he says this place reeks of it._

_He's gone in alone. Won't let any of us go in with him. To scout, he says. Hah. He keeps drifting in and out of radio contact. A surefire sign something REAL rotten's lurking around there. _

_Alone, no one to watch his back…_

_I hope he comes back alive. Danny actually likes humanity. And he's strong. Many don't realize that until he demonstrates it._

_But those who hate…can unleash horrors beyond even the greatest of strengths..._

_I just wish he wasn't alone._

Tucker was going to get his wish. But he'd have never thought of the way how.

* * *

_That same small town…_

_One week later._

_Nothing like yours._

_Fall on your knees and pray for thanks for that fact…_

It was dead.

The whole town was dead.

It wasn't a metaphor. The entire town population of…whatever its name was had been reduced to cooling corpses. It had become a hunting ground and a massacre, no escape allowed, no rescue, no outside interference.

And Danny was being kicked in the face without actually being kicked in the face.

Perhaps you are confused. Let me verify just why this strange description was occurring: Danny had just been clubbed across his features by a severed human leg.

He crashed to the ground, feeling in disgust the faint droplets of blood on his cheek and nose, as his attacker smiled down on him. Smiling through bloody teeth.

"Cleetus says, good eats' a' comin'." The madman said in the most stereotypical hillbilly tone one could imagine. This Cleetus was wearing bloodstained overalls and a tight T-shirt that might have once been white and was pretty much the dark-reddish brown that blood stained the color of. He had a shock of white hair, animalistic features…and was carrying a severed human leg, cut off at the knee and wielded by the bone stump at the end.

As if he couldn't wait, Cleetus raised the leg to his mouth and took a bite out of it, as Danny blinked, feeling his gorge rise. But then, why should he be surprised? When he'd found Cleetus, he'd been leaning over the corpse of a fourteen year old girl and delightedly eating her kidney, which was probably most of what was left of the mess that had once been her body. Then he'd seen him, and before Danny could react he'd bounded over with inhuman speed and 'kicked' him.

"Gonna squeal boy." Cleetus cackled, and leapt, slamming his leg weapon down.

Danny leapt to avoid it, spinning through the air, his long duster coat whirling around him as he landed, narrowing his eyes. Cleetus whooped and charged.

Danny stood his ground. He'd had no exhaled coldness, so Cleetus wasn't connected to ghosts or spirits. And Danny knew, deep down, that he wasn't some insane human who been plucked from some nightmare Deliverance clone and stuck in this poor godforsaken town. Mainly because there was no way he could have committed slaughter on this scale all by himself.

Which spoke of other, worse things from beyond human existence finding a way to walk on the Earth and spread their wretched taint. Yeah, Danny knew what this Cleetus was. He looked like a cannibal, but the reality was even worse.

As Cleetus swung his leg, and Danny snapped out the Magnus and blocked it, leaping backwards immediately afterward.

"I know." Danny said quietly. You'd think he was speaking to himself, and you'd be wrong, as Cleetus rushed in. "Just need…"

Cleetus reached out a clawing hand for Danny's face, going for his eyes.

As Danny did a Matrix dodge backwards…and stopped, as Cleetus overextended himself and charged over him, and then Danny pushed himself back to a vertical base.

Cleetus swung around, grinning through the blood.

As the sword crunched through his ribcage. Danny could move fast too.

"You don't belong here." Danny growled, and focused…and Cleetus hollered as fire erupted from his wound, screaming as he was burned away.

Danny yanked the sword free as Cleetus crumbled to the ground, his skin blackening and his body turning to ash.

"That's one." Danny said. "How many…"

And then his eyes widened as a voice, silent to everything but him, shrieked a warning.

But it was already too late, as the cattle prod plunged into Danny's spine, and he screamed as the electricity tore through his form, disrupting his muscles and nerves and severing his connection with his blade. Falling to his knees, his sword clattering to his side, Danny tried to force himself to recover.

As a powerful female hand reached around his head and seized his jaw in a vice grip, as Danny suddenly felt hot breath in his ear.

"Awwwwwwwwwww…little boy, don't spoil our play." A female voice whispered, a seductive tone touching Danny's hormonal centers…and the cold, snarling viciousness lurking beneath it quickly changing the chemicals to fear. "Let Belladonna show you some games you'd never learn on the schoolground. It will be the greatest lesson of your life."

And Belladonna jammed the cattle prod into Danny's spine again, and even as he screamed in agony she let out a low moan of ecstasy…

"Hey bitch. Got a game of my own."

And Belladonna, a lovely and well-endowed woman, who was actually wearing a maid's outfit, found herself interrupted in mid-pleasure, and with a snarl she turned away from Danny, her short black hair whirling as her features contorted into the face of the sadistic animal beneath…

As the baseball bat smashed across those lovely features, sending a spray of blood and broken teeth into the air as Belladonna was thrown to the side and then to the ground from the blow, falling on her face with another loud crack…

As the figure stepped up, swung her bat up, and brought it down against with a disgustingly wet crunch.

"America's pastime and all." She said, and spat on the ground beside the body.

"Uggggghhhhhhh…" Danny said, trying to blink the world back into clarity. The fact he was no longer being electrocuted indicated someone had probably come along to help. Maybe he shouldn't have been so gung-ho in going in alone…

As said helper stepped into his vision, and Danny blinked.

It was not his mother, or any of his fellows.

The girl had short black hair (quite a bit like Belladonna actually) and lovely features done up with dark makeup. She wore a clingy black top under a short, open light red jacket, a pair of black 'skorts' (skirt/short combination), and black fishnet leggings that ended in black combat boots. Combine that with the fact she was well-endowed, and you can't blame Danny for what he said.

"…did I miss something?" Danny asked. "When did we get to Scores in time for Goth night?"

Fortunately, the girl did not introduce him to the dense wooden bat with "KISSTHIS' carved into it. She just settled for punching him.

"Ugh! Last time I save your ass, you stupid kid!" The girl said, as Danny blinked the new stars out of his eyes and then stood up.

"Wait…what? Who are you?"

"Who are YOU?" The girl retorted. "I know what you were: getting your first orgasm from some psycho dominatrix. Forget the safety word?"

"…what? Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on? Tucker, are you there?" Danny said, pressing his finger to his ear. All he got was static. "Who ARE you?"

"Sorry kid, this ain't Meet The Press. You'd best bug off before something else comes along to try and make your balls drop, or maybe your guts. Life doesn't hand out second chances." The girl said as she walked past him, swinging her bat up on her right shoulder with both hands.

As Belladonna rose, her head a bloody mess and her eyes screaming bloody murder.

"…unless you're one of THEM." The girl groaned.

Belladonna screamed…

And then twin knives exploded from her chest, as Belladonna jerked, and then let out a curious gurgle as the knives twisted and were yanked out, Belladonna pitching over dead as Danny recoiled a bit at the massive figure that had crept up behind her. How had he moved so quietly? How did someone that large sneak up on someone smaller then him and not even have Danny see him before he struck?

"Nggggh. Overconfident, Cass." The giant figure grunted as he shuffled forward. He had nearly two heads on Danny and was twice as wide as him. Unlike the female, who the giant had addressed as 'Cass' (so it seemed), the giant just wore a simple dark blue boiler suit…and a metal gas mask that covered his features.

There was something off about his skull, Danny realized (as if the dark grayish skin that Danny could see covering it wasn't enough). It wasn't a smooth semi-sphere, it was kind of ridged in the middle, forming two smaller 'peaks'. A skeletal deformity. Who knew what the mask concealed...

"Hey Vlad, I would have brained her better if dickless here hadn't decided to get his misogynist on." The girl called Cass replied, indicating Danny with her head.

"WHAT? HUH? WHAT?" Danny said: he'd encountered all kinds of bizarre and unnatural horrors, but this situation's refusal to clarify itself was proving especially maddening. "WHO ARE YOU TWO?"

"Oh fine, since your life, which I gave back to you by the way, won't be complete unless you know, I'm Cassie. He's Vlad. And we have to work kid. So get out of town before something sends you out, feet first."

"Mgghhh. She's probably correct. Not safe here." The giant called Vlad replied: he was more polite but no less dismissive, as he and Cassie turned to leave.

"WHOA! HOLD IT!" Danny said. "What do you mean your jobs?"

"Oh man, I bet his teachers wanted to cut his hand off." Cassie growled to herself, before turning back around. "Look kid, if you somehow haven't noticed, and that would be VERY hard even considering your apparent lack of brains as well as penis, there are some REAL BAD THINGS in this town going around doing rather socially unacceptable deeds such as cutting people into more pieces then it is in their interest to be! And since the police seem to have blinders firmly on and thumbs firmly inserted into asses, we have to deal with it. Now get out of here!" Cassie said, pointing before turning around and starting back down the town street with Vlad.

"…hey hey wait!" Danny said, as he started after the pair again. Unfortunately, Danny's social development had been rather slowed by certain bad events in his life, and he could be knocked off-kilter and take a while to recover if the wrong situation presented itself. Hence Danny came off as more of an over-curious puppy then someone who had faced horrific monsters himself, and that was what Cassie picked up as she whirled around, her immense aggravation apparent in her body language.

"WHAT? WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN, DICKHEAD?"

"Hold it! I'm not some random passerby! I'm here, very likely, for the same reason YOU are! Can we PLEASE speak for a moment? And can you PLEASE stop making comments about my genitalia?"

"Someone has to, or the poor thing might curl up and die from lack of use." Cassie retorted.

"Who seemed to have shit…in your oatmeal today, Cassie?" Vlad enquired, seemingly surprised by how pointedly nasty she was being.

"That's piss in your cornflakes Vlad."

"Mmmmmm. Nonsense still…" Vlad said. Danny let the latest comment pass.

"Look, yeah, I didn't look too good back there, and thanks for the save, but really, there's more to this then you realize…"

"Oh and YOU'RE the one who was gonna clean it up! Send the evil packing! Even got the longcoat going on, very faux-badass of you!" Cassie said acidly. "This isn't a roleplay session of the Matrix, nutsack, and…"

"MY NAME IS DANNY!" Danny roared.

"Your name's gonna be mud and you'll probably end up six feet under it if you don't get lost. Now if you DON'T mind, I'd like to accomplish something before everyone in the surrounding six towns knows I'm…"

And Cassie turned around.

And saw the small, wild-orange haired man standing before her, his eyes nearly popping right of his sockets and his mouth frozen in a near rictus grin, his arms bound in a bloodstained white straightjacket (he also wore brown pants, but no shoes or socks) as he leered at her.

"THE FUCK!"

"HI!" The straightjacketed man said cheerily.

And then he smashed his forehead into her nose, sending her flying back as blood gouted from the damaged cartilage.

"Cassie! …DIE!" Vlad snarled as he pulled his twin giant butcher knives out and slashed at the straight jacketed lunatic, but he ducked down easily, the slash going over his head, then dodging aside from the second downward slash, his balance as insane as he was, as he leapt backwards from Vlad's third swing and rolled, flipping over on his feet again and then springing off the ground as if he'd jumped onto a trampoline, his feet lancing out and slamming into Vlad's gas mask as the lunatic's feet blurred, smashing several kicks into Vlad's face before he delivered one final one with mustard, flipping him over and back onto his feet as Vlad stumbled back from the blow.

"YOU ARE FUCKING HAMBURGER MOTHERFUCKER!" Cassie screamed as she charged and swung her bat.

The lunatic leapt into the air, avoiding her swing, and before Cassie knew it he was actually standing on her bat.

"I'm not Motherfucker!" The lunatic merrily chirped. And then he jumped, bouncing off Cassie's head and shoulders like he was Mario and she was a hapless Koopa, driving her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her as he landed nearby.

"I'm Oddball!" He declared.

"I'm drunk." Vlad said, as he hurled his knives at Oddball.

Oddball dropped into a perfect split to avoid the first one. But Vlad had expected that, and thrown the second knife just a little after and a little lower.

So Oddball twisted his head to the side and a touch back and bit down, and Vlad goggled behind his mask as Oddball actually caught the knife in his teeth.

"Heehee!" He giggled as he tossed the knife up and then bit down again, now holding it by the handle in his mouth as he leapt to his feet and sprinted at Vlad.

Vlad was big, but he wasn't slow, and as Oddball stabbed at him he jerked slightly to the side and then slammed his hands down, catching the knife between them…

As Oddball purposely let go.

"GOTCHA!" He laughed, as he rolled around Vlad, getting behind him and onto his back, and with a mighty thrust he buried both his feet into Vlad's meaty rear end, throwing the giant forward onto his chest and face…as Oddball kipped up and leapt, and before Vlad could move he had come crashing down heel first on the back of Vlad's head. Curb stomping, to the next level.

"Awwwwwwwww…it was just getting good!" Oddball laughed.

"FUCKKKKKKK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Cassie screamed as she came at Oddball twice as mad and four times as vicious as she had been before. But Oddball just leaned away from her attacking bat swipe and then ducked under the next one, and as Cassie overextended herself he lightly jumped up. Before Cassie knew it, he was on her shoulders…as he sat down and wrapped his legs around her neck.

Cassie gasped as her air was cut off, and she tried to bring the bat up and smash Oddball off her. But the madman held on despite her blows, and she quickly found her fingers going numb as her body screamed for air…

And then she lost the bat. Staggering around, she clawed at Oddball's legs, and then tried to get to one of her backup switchblades, but everything was going black…

As black as Vlad's mood as he seized Oddball.

"OFF." He snarled, as he tried to both pull Oddball off Cassie and perhaps remove his head in the process…

"No fun!" Oddball complained, and rammed his head backwards, slamming it into Vlad's mask and briefly staggering him again as he abruptly unlocked his legs, pushed himself up on Cassie's shoulders, and ran over to Vlad's, kicking off the back of his head and sending him crashing into his partner, both of them tumbling down as Oddball flew up into the air with a whoop…

And then a black blur zapped past him in mid-jump.

"…….Huhhhhhhhhhhh?" Oddball said, as he turned around, still flying from his push off, a look of confusion across his face.

As a bloody diagonal line appeared across it as well.

And then blood exploded from his body as his left arm, shoulder, and most of his head separated from the rest of him. His bisected corpse crashed to the ground.

Danny landed a few seconds later, kneeling slightly, as he turned his sword sideways, blood dripping from the blade. Danny looked at it in distaste, and as Cassie, still holding her throat and gasping for air, watched with as much surprise as Vlad, he turned the sword intangible, letting the blood fall free onto the ground.

"Now that I have a more appropriate level of your attention." Danny said, as he sheathed his sword. "We should have that talk."

* * *

"You're him. The ghost kid. I've heard of you." Cassie said, and then took a long gulp from a bottle of water Vlad had 'liberated' from an empty convenience store. He was currently holding some ice packs to his face, gas mask removed. As it turned out, his features weren't TOO deformed, but they were far from conventional, including a somewhat uneven facial structure and a slightly upturned nose. But Danny had seen a lot worse. In terms of deformity and what lack of deformity sometimes hid. 

"Good to know. But the name is Danny…Cassie, was it?"

"Cassandra Hack. Cass, Cassie, whatever you want." Cassie said, and took another drink. "I thought you were a myth."

"Truth in myths, I've found, are hit or miss. Hit or myth, really." Danny commented, and tried his radio again. Nothing but static. "Look, I might be getting some backup soon. They'll be wearing full body outfits, so try not to bludgeon or stab them on sight. Which reminds me, just what are you two doing here."

"Our job. What are you?" Cassie replied.

"Your job?"

"Yeah. We hunt slashers. And kill them."

"Slashers?" Danny asked.

"Aw man kid, you handle a blade so well…though I must point out you certainly TOOK YOUR TIME coming to help. What the fuck, kid? Did you just have to have a big damn heroes moment?"

"Hey whoa whoa, hold on. I'm used to dealing with certain people, and you popping up out of the blue with all your running commentary about my…you know, flustered the hell out of me. I left my sword behind on the ground, and I had to run back and get it. That's all."

"Hurrrrr. Should not let the bad blood rule your asshole, Cass." Vlad commented. Danny arched an eyebrow.

"Sorry kid. Vlad here wasn't born in a barn, but he might as well have been when it comes to combining proper vocabulary and slang and cursing. Vlad, yes, PISSED means intoxicated, but you were supposed to be saying you were angry."

"Urrrrrr. Ridiculous need for pithy comments. Can go fuck a rooster." Vlad said, as he slid his gas mask back on. "More to do Cassandra."

"Okay wait wait…first, just what do you mean by hunting slashers?" Danny asked.

"It's simple kid. There are slashers. We hunt them. And sometimes we headed out to rumored trouble sites only to find the problem already fixed. Sometimes it was never there to begin with, but a few provided some vague snatches of info that some kid who moved 'like a ghost' showed up and cleaned up the mess. That you?"

"Quite possibly. I don't 'hunt slashers' though. Just what are slashers? It sounds like a movie term."

"It is, but in the past several years reality is copying fiction. You know what a zombie is, right?"

"Yeah."

"Vampire?"

"Yeah."

"And I take it with how well you cut that tied-up loonybird shit that you understand the concept of a serial killer."

"….yeah."

"A slasher's a little of all three. Generally, they come in two types. One's a living maniac with a gimmick. The other is more tied to all three: someone who died but didn't stay dead."

"Yeah, I've had my troubles with that situation…" Danny mused.

"Sometimes they were innocent victims, and sometimes they were complete pieces of shit, but they died filled with rage and hate. And it brought them back. Changed them. But like vampires, they retain the ability to think, even if they lose all moral restraint. Sometimes it even grants them strange abilities, but it always makes them a lot harder to kill the second time. And then they start or resume killing, and people get hurt." Cassie said. "And then I show up and knock their brains into the next time zone. When I can. There are…annoying variants to the system. Animals at times. Living mutants. Hell, one slasher I stopped stayed a ghost and killed people in their dreams."

"Where have I heard that before?"

"He was a stupid, sadistic kid born bad. They don't have much originality." Cassie commented. "Anyway, we heard through our grapevine that something wasn't quite right here, so we gassed up our van, and here we are. Looks like there's a whole nest of the fucks. I don't know why they gathered here or how they managed to kill the entire town without the outside world noticing, but that's all water under the fucking bridge. We have to kill them. Wanna help out, kid?" Cassie said, as she swung her bat over her shoulders and perched her arms on it.

"Please stop calling me kid. My name is Danny. And there's more to it then you realize. These things…they're not 'slashers', as least as you describe them. They're demons. Well, to be more specific, they're demonic essences wearing 'skin masks'."

Vlad and Cassie stared.

"…look, if you could humor me, just follow me. I need to gather some more information." Danny said. "Oh, and keep on your guard. We can't surprise these things. They knew we were here the moment we arrived. We're already being hunted."

* * *

"…help?" Tucker's voice said through some static. 

"Yeah. They kinda just showed up. I'll let Mom and the girls know if I need them as well, as soon as I do some verification." Danny said, and took his hand away from his ear.

"Well organized." Vlad noted, as the three walked along the empty streets, having left the actual town part to enter the houses surrounding it, Danny following some faint trail only he could detect.

"Oh shut up." Cassie retorted. "So where are we going, Disneyland?"

"Flare is pinpointing the origin point of this mess." Danny said off-hand, before he recalled he wasn't with his friends.

"Who?" Cassie asked.

"…well if you hunt undead 'slashers' who rise from the grave to kill, I suppose you can accept this." Danny said, and drew his sword, holding it out. It wasn't a specific type of weapon: it was a little katana, a little rapier, a touch of longsword, a dabble of falchion, but what really made it stand out was the fact it had holes in it: specifically, a line of small squarish holes lined the blade.

"…that thing looks like it would break after one good hit." Cassie said.

"Nghhhhh. Poor design. Style over sustenance." Vlad added.

"Yes, you're right. By itself. But this is just the vessel for the real weapon."

And misty white and blue energy trailed out of the holes, briefly tracing around the weapon before withdrawing.

"This is Flare. Short for Magnus Flareium. Which is a very, VERY rough and shortened translation for the closest thing the spirit has to an actual name, which comes out to something like "That Would Let The Hand Wield A Bane That Would Cut Fire And Freeze Ice, Break Mountains And Sunder Rivers…"…and it goes on like that for another paragraph or two. It…well, she, as I see her, is sort of a 'spirit of blades', an entity that had appeared and joined with those she deemed worthy of her aid to do great deeds. She's had a lot of names. Caladbolg. Gram. Kladenets. Skofnung. Dyrnwyrn. Shamshir-e Zomorrodnegar. Durendel. Kusanagi. Joyeuse."

Cassie and Vlad looked blankly.

"...Excalibur." Danny finished, and sheathed the weapon.

"No way. You gotta be shittin' me." Cassie said.

"Perhaps. Myths tend to get crossed over with each other and all. Who knows what was real, what was exaggerated, and what was invented from whole cloth. But she's been around a real long time. And now she's with me."

"And what did you do?" Vlad muttered.

"….not enough." Danny said, his voice briefly sad. "Anyway, she's a great help, though certain powers I have while on my own don't work very well when I wield her. Something to do with the human and ghost sides not being able to fully sync up due to some reason or other… But it's a worthwhile sacrifice. And besides I…in any case, my abilities allow me a small degree of empathy. I can sense certain things if I concentrate. She focuses that. Think of it like tracing a phone call."

"And just what is the point of this again? As it's taking us away from cracking skulls?"

"Fools rush in. These demons…Skins, if you will, they can be immensely dangerous if you lack certain information. Plus the fact we haven't been molested since that straight jacketed one probably indicates they want us to know. If only for vanity and to damage morale."

"Demons…so there is a hell." Vlad mused.

"Not so simple, really." Danny said. "What we call existence is…part of a far greater mass. Normally we just kind of all exist together peacefully side by side, kind of like one of those giant gumball machines you used to see in malls, except the balls were more of a weird gel/gas material then…but anyway, everything is generally separate. But crossing between the 'gumballs' wasn't impossible…but it was immensely dangerous, because unlike those machines, no two gumballs are alike, and you have no idea where you'd end up, and what reality would be like there. But it was damn hard to cross…but recently, this…stupid, STUPID bastard threw a temper tantrum and took a sledgehammer to the status quo. It screwed up the balance. Realities started leaking into each other. Bad things came here, and on top of that, our reality's 'essence' could leak into other places and act like a scent trail to OTHER bad things. And just to REALLY make it bad, this made it easier to cross between them, or in this case, call on something to cross between them. That's what I do. I close up the holes, and deal with anything that showed up that doesn't belong her. Sort of like you two, I guess."

The hunters of slashers stared.

"…yes Vlad, there is a hell." Danny said lamely.

"It seems like there are many hells." Vlad mused.

"Wonder why if there's so much real estate we have so many unwanted guests so determined to hang around here." Cassie muttered.

"I don't have an answer to that…just…" Danny said, and sighed. "The basic concept of heaven and hell is that if you're good you go get to be with God and be at peace for eternity and if you're bad you go the other way and suffer for eternity. But it's never basic in life. There's a theory that whatever comes after your life ends is whatever you think you deserve. Milton said 'Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell'. There's no great moral judgment, just perception. You go where you think or want to go. Which would certainly explain your slashers hanging around."

"You'd think a ghost would know more." Cassie commented.

"Don't confuse ghosts and spirits with theological matters. I could swear I've met at least four manifestations of judgment after death, and I had no real idea which one was legit or the highest power. If I ever die-DIE, I'm as at much of a loss as you where I'll go, or where many evils come from. All I have is what I've seen and thought. Much like you two."

"Hurrrrr. Imperfect, such a process, if one goes where one believes."

"Yeah man, you'd have people riddled with delusional guilt going to Hell while morons who bomb abortion clinics while screaming self-righteously about sinners getting into Paradise." Cassie added.

"If I made a list of all the things that were unfair about life…well, it would be a very very long list."

"Life shits a lot of fucks." Vlad said.

"…you said it big guy." Danny said, and stopped. "We're here."

He pointed at the nondescript house they'd stopped in front. It looked little different from the many they'd passed during their walk.

"This is where it started. If we find any answers, it will be in there."

* * *

"I'm glad to know the many hours of effort that went into building all my neat toys was appreciated Danny." Tucker groused from the phone Danny had put on speaker. With radio communication proving spotty, Danny had just dialed the Ghost of a Chance's secret number from the house phone: it had worked out.

"Go with the flow, Tuck." Danny said.

"So just who are these guests of yours?"

"Kindred souls. We want the same thing and after some bumps we're on the same path."

"Honey, are you sure you can trust them? We can be in the town in two minutes." Maddie's voice came over the phone.

"And I don't like how isolated this incident is. It speaks of a trap. I'd rather it spring on me and leave you free." Danny said. "As for Cassie and Vlad, well, they're a touch rough-hewn, but if I was the type to judge on surfaces chances are we'd all be dead back in Amity Park a long time ago."

Maddie was silent.

"I'll turn on any more phones I find and keep this on. We're checking the house for info and clues."

"Standing by Danny." Tucker said, as Vlad walked into the room. Even with the gas mask on, Danny could tell he was wincing.

"What…terrible smell, hurr. What IS that…"

"You know how birth, despite being natural, can be a messy process? As well as the act of ridding one's body of solid waste? Well, take those two experiences, combine them, make them distinctively UNNATURAL, and make the whole toxic mix we now have about, oh, 1700 times worse. That's what you're smelling, Vlad. That's the smell of the world being violated."

"Smells like rotten meat and old sweat to me." Cassie said as she walked in. "I'm tired of farting around, get your Flare Magazine or whatever to pinpoint what we're looking for."

Danny was about to reply before he paused for a few seconds.

"…yes, I know." Danny said, though he didn't sound like he was talking to Cassie. "Upstairs."

Danny lead the two up the stairs, walking on eggshells and ready for any possible nasty surprises.

But nothing attacked them, and they soon found themselves in the scorched, blackened, and slathered with traces of crusted gore room that had once belonged to an unfortunate idiot named Jimmy Flexner.

"This is where it started. Any answers we can find are here." Danny said, as he looked at the ashes of what had once been a makeshift alter. "I don't really know what we're looking for…books are usually a good place to start…"

"Found some." Vlad said, having flipped up the burned mattress to reveal a disturbing amount of pornography. Danny glanced at it and turned away in disgust.

"Not quite what we need." Danny said, as he began opening desk drawers, feeling inside for hidden compartments or concealed objects.

"Cannibal Corpse…Prostitute Disfigurement…Pungent Stench…Dying Fetus…yep, this kid's got the classic compartment of the nihilistic little poseur." Cassie said, flipping through blackened CD's.

"Here we are." Danny said, as he found it buried beneath an overturned chair and some random magazines: a black bound book (they always were) with the title written in some gobbledygook Danny didn't understand. Locating a phone in the room, Danny tried turning it on and was somewhat surprised when it worked.

"Tuck?"

"Yeah?"

"Sending back scans of a tome. Likely a grimoire of some power." Danny said, as he reached into a pocket and withdrew what looked like a fat pen, as he pressed a button on it and scanned a light, wide purple beam of light over the cover, before opening the book carefully and beginning to scan the pages. "We need to try and pinpoint just what he…"

Danny got his answer quicker then he expected, as he found the page circled with blue pen.

"Or you could just translate this." Danny said, as he started scanning it.

"Found a diary." Cassie said, as she flipped it open. "Entry 42: Chad that fucking asshole knocked my lunch all over me today and then laughed about it, I wish I had a rusty hook to stick in his balls and then…moving on…" Cassie said as she rifled through the pages. "Entry 61: That fucking slut Erin looked at me like I was garbage. All I did was bring her the book she dropped! Like she hasn't spread it for half the guys, she looks at me like I'M shit. I swear, if I could tie her to a bed, I'd make sure she wouldn't be so haughty, I'd raise her ass up like a pig and blah blah blah violent sexual fantasies, and it goes on like this." Cassie said, dropping the book in disgust. "This is what happens when you care enough to get your kid a computer but don't care enough that he's looking at porn at age 11. What a fucking loser."

"And he knew it, and it ate at him like cancer. Seen it before. Lived small bits of it, in another life." Danny said, as he continued to scan the book. "It can be grown out of…if you have the right support structure. If you don't…well, usually you just get ranting on the internet and disturbing adult magazines like those." Danny said, pointing. "And then there's what happens if you stick something like this in a mindset like this. Angry, immature, blind to consequence and reality…worse things use it to breed."

"So now what?" Cassie asked, sitting on the bed as Vlad continued to pick over the room.

"Give my group a little more time. We know this kid was an angry loser, and we know this made him call up something really bad, and we know what happened…but I want to see if we can figure out WHAT he called up. It might explain why you mistook them for slashers. They WERE gimmicky."

"They always are." Cassie said as she crossed her legs.

"…so." Danny said, as he waited. "What's your story?"

Cassie frowned.

"Oh what is this, Jerry Springer? Keep your fucking nose out of my business! I hunt slashers! That's all you need to know! Why do YOU do your thing?"

"Because I have to." Danny answered simply. "…..heh. We look at this kid and what he did…thing is, go back a few years and in too many ways I'm not much different from him."

"A fucking emo pervert?"

"No, more in the way I lived in my own world, appreciating nothing else. It's dangerous thinking. Turns rotten easily…and yet it's so damn typical. You're so stupid as a kid…never appreciate what you should…" Danny mused. "…my dad seemed like such a bumbling, deluded idiot at times, obsessed with ghosts, building worthless inventions, unable to interact with my sister and I unless it was about ghosts…if I hadn't gotten my powers I probably would have thought as little as him as this kid's parents apparently did. There's teenage rebellion and then there's the anger that blooms from coldness. And as silly as my dad was, he was never cold. He loved me, deeply. And I was too stupid to appreciate it and then…I was going around, having adventures, battling villains…thought it was enough. I never realized that good deeds could have such drastic consequences…and that I'd never get a chance to say all that mattered before it was over."

Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair: he needed to trim the shoulder length locks he now had a little soon or he'd end up with a mullet again.

"So now I'm proactive. I deal with things instead of sitting back and taking them for granted. I don't ever want to have to have these regrets again."

"…regrets are life." Cassie mused in turn. "I just had my mom, and we were close…and even that wasn't enough. I didn't see any of it coming…and like you, it's why I'm out there, bat in hand. Someone has to…oh fuck this noise. Get your damn group to send their data or I'm out of this bitch right now."

"Patience Cassandra…" Vlad said, looking through a collection of video games.

"Fuck patience. I want answers or something to hit."

"Then you'll be glad to know you came to the right place, beautiful!" Tucker said over the phone.

"Cram it with walnuts, blinky."

"Hey! Wait, what?"

"She's like that Tuck. What did you find out."

"Well, it's the usual bad shit. REAL bad shit. That page details summoning, like you said, demonic essences, Skins, in this case the "Scourge of the 8th Level Whose Blood And Tears Run In Oceans"…or something like that. Real mean and vicious. Supposedly you could call them and they could take the form of your enemy provided you had the flesh to make it, like a freshly killed corpse or two, and then they'd go out into the enemy camp and slaughter and mutilate and all the usual jazz…thing is, they NEED those flesh bodies to exist on our plane. Otherwise they can't stay."

"And this stupid kid didn't have any flesh present but his own. Another one dies of lack of fine print reading." Danny said. "That doesn't explain the precise shapes we saw."

"Well, if they have raw material, they'll turn to whatever's handy. If need be they'll just copy humans, but they prefer taking worse shapes, anything that would be written down in a book, on a scroll…"

"Or a video game?" Vlad asked.

Danny and Cassie looked at the giant, as he held out a black DC case on which two words were scratched.

**THRILL KILL.**

* * *

"Thrill Kill. Playstation game developed in the late 90's by Paradox Development, and was all set to be shipped until its publisher, Virgin Interactive, was bought by Electronic Arts, who canceled the game's release a few weeks before it actually launched." Tucker said. "Apparently it was such a violent, nasty game they didn't even want another company to put it out: they killed it entirely. But a few bootleg copies managed to sneak their way out…and your friend apparently found one." 

"Charming. And just what was this game about?"

"According to this game site, the story goes "Eight fighters, eight souls. Each has died and descended into Hell - except it is not the classical Dante's Hell. It is a modern day Hell based on the real world of today's deviants. The characters are the physical manifestations of their mental illnesses or vices on earth. Marukka, the God of Secrets, is bored and decided that it would be fun to pit them all against each other with the prize being rebirth. Each character is battling for nothing more than self-preservation and the hope to be born again." You would all fight in a room until someone's 'Kill Meter' filled up then you'd kill someone and so on until there was one left standing. It was violent beyond belief, crude, nasty, and nihilistic."

"Lovely. What the fuck is wrong with people?" Cassie bitched.

"Hey man, er, miss, it was just a sign of the times. Mortal Kombat'd been released several years ago and started a massive brouhaha over its violent content and how it was affecting the youth, the usual nonsense scapegoating, so when it came out for home systems Nintendo caved in and censored the violence and Sega didn't, and Sega's copies sold tons more then Nintendo, which made them leave the violence in for the sequel and showed that blood and guts can sell. Combine that with the Playstation system breaking the belief that games were all for kids and that adults could play this machine, well, how do you do an adult Mortal Kombat? Turn everything up to 11. It probably WOULD have sold tons, simply based on that." Tucker said. "It's the classic problem of seeing the most hyped feature of a game make people think that that's all that makes it worthwhile, which is why you had all those Kombat knockoffs and games like that. Violence is just part of a game. The Grand Theft Auto and God of War games are immensely violent, but they're also very good games: if you took the violence out…"

"Yes Tucker this is all very interesting but does it have a point?"

"You said you ran into murderous lunatics called Cleetus, Belladonna, and Oddball? Well, Thrill Kill happened to have three of its eight playable characters named that. The essences took flesh from their initial murders and crafted bodies based on the fighters from the game."

"And then they killed the whole town." Danny said grimly.

"They gain strength from such atrocities. That and actual presence in our realm. You can kill them Danny, but they won't go down easy."

"Story of my life." Cassie and Danny said at the same time: the two glanced oddly at each other when they'd finished.

"What are the rest of this game's characters Tuck?"

"Well counting Marukka as a likely final boss, there are six left. Besides Marukka that's…"

And then with a sudden hissing click, Tucker's voice cut out.

"Tuck? Tuck?" Danny said, as he ran over to the phone. His efforts to restablish a connection proved fruitless: the phone had gone stone dead.

But not silent.

"HHHHHHHHAAAAAALLLLLLLFFFFLLLLLINNNNGGGGGGG…"

Danny took a step back as the voice traced ice down his spine.

"FRESHHHHHHHHHHHH……BLOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD…"

And then the Thrill Kill disc burst into flames, Vlad throwing it down in surprise as it did. Danny's head snapped to the movement, and then back to the phone, but it was now completely silent. Danny's second try to use it proved as useless as the first.

"…well, they've thrown down the gauntlet. Let's go." Danny said.

"Go where now?"

"Who knows? They'll find us soon enough. They know we're here. They can smell us."

"What a barrel of shitass." Vlad commented, as the three left the room and the house, weapons at the ready.

But no attacks came, and with guarded steps, the three began making their way back into the town.

* * *

"How do slashers typically act?" Danny asked a few minutes later, as the two made their way back into the town. 

"Huh?" Cassie said, glancing at Danny.

"They kill. How?"

"Uh, well, they're often not very subtle about it. They're usually already dead, or insane, or both, and I have yet to meet one that didn't possess some degree of resilience or regeneration. But they often pick easy targets. Most of them don't have much of a clue what to do when myself and Vlad show up…"

"That won't be the case here. These are malevolent intelligences, not vengeful ghouls. They'll know how to fight. The only advantage we have is that they'll be bound by the rules of the form they picked. As long as they chose something sensible…"

"Ahhhhhhhh…but isn't that the great secret?" The soft, almost gentle female voice said.

As Danny suddenly found the area in front of him piled with bodies. Danny recoiled from the sudden appearance: he'd KNOWN that they hadn't been there a second ago. Cass and Vlad were just as surprised and alarmed at the sight.

The townspeople, so cruelly butchered and then strewn around the town square like garbage. Danny suddenly found the street beneath him sticky with blood, and the smell of death filled the air.

And then it swooped down, landing on the fountain in the town center, long wings coiling up behind it as he did so, and Danny found himself looking at a demonic figure once more.

It was clearly not human, unlike the previous three essence-skins, but unlike the typical demon colors of black and red, this creature was actually green and yellow: green on the extremities and wings (with some red on the wings) turning yellow on the torso. It had a two-toed clawed foot, organic blades sprouting from its wrists and covering the top of its hands, and while having breasts the figure was nippleless and sexless, its face possessing neither a mouth or nose, just a pair of glowing green eyes (and a pair of fleshy antenna like projections from her forehead).

Danny looked at it, and he knew.

"Marukka." Danny said, drawing the Magnus. It was not the demon's true name, but since it wore the form of the creature from the game, it would do.

"Spirit boy, a mess of flesh." Marukka replied. "Your heart will be delicious to feast upon."

"You don't have a fucking MOUTH, you stupid bitch." Cass said as she brought her bat to bear. "Why don't you come down here so I can show you how to play a REAL game."

"…this is the only warning you get. Leave your constructs and return to your realm of existence. Or suffer the consequences." Danny said, pointing his sword at the demon.

"Hmmmmmmmm…no. I'd rather know your secrets." Marukka said. "And my fellows thirst for blood. Scream for me, meatsacks!"

And Danny sensed the movement, coming out of nowhere, just like when Belladonna caught him off guard…

As Cassie turned and found another length of wood slamming against the side of her head, pitching her down, even as Vlad was spun around and sent flying by a gigantic fist blow…

As the limbs wrapped around Danny's body from behind, the arms and legs pretzeling around him as Danny gasped.

"Hello you bastard." A female voice, for the second time, whispered in his ear. "Get ready to be broken."

"GRARGGHHHH!" Danny hissed, as the arms and legs began to yank at him, trying to twist his body into a position it would not naturally go into…as Danny sliced the Magnus behind him, striking a glancing blow and drawing a cry of pain. Danny used that chance to slip free from the grip, whirling around to face his assailant.

It was a young woman, with red hair, a skintight purple outfit consisting of pants, a bra-shirt, and a headband, and, as she glared at him with a look of petulant rage while holding her cut arm, more joints then she knew what to do with, as she promptly twisted her body into a position no human could have accomplished without breaking half the bones they had. She was a contortionist.

"Gonna snap you in half you BASTARD!" She snarled. Danny raised his sword…

As the chain wrapped around his neck, and he was promptly jerked off his feet with a yell of surprise. He hit the ground hard, clawing at the chain as he was dragged along the ground several feet before being yanked back up.

He found himself staring into a black masked face, an executioner's hood from which two cruel, vicious eyes stared.

"Little delinquent."

And a chain-wrapped fist slammed into his face.

Vlad's attacker didn't need a chain: he was even bigger and wider then the deformed giant, a truly mammoth attacker, which was apt as his name WAS Mammoth. You'd never find that out from him though, as he bellowed and charged at Vlad, a gigantic slab of muscle with a blobby, bald, mouthless and noseless head from which two blankly furious eyes glared through heavily hooded brows. Maybe he was angry at the fact that he had no genitals, a fact made clear by Mammoth's lack of clothes.

"Ngghhh. A first…" Vlad said, as he sidestepped Mammoth and slashed out, cutting two deep wounds in the giant's side. But Vlad was an expert at meat cutting and he knew the injuries were superficial: he needed to get closer and stab harder…

As Mammoth's fist pinwheeled around and knocked him sprawling with another vicious blow.

And he needed to do it before he suffered the unexpected fate of being beaten into paste.

And from giant to anything but, Cassie blinked the pain from her head as she looked at her attacker…

He was a midget. Wearing a skintight red devil suit (so skintight she could make out a lot more detail about his 'little devil' then she'd like). Complete with Van Dyke. With stilts strapped to his legs.

"You gotta be shittin' me."

"Nope, that was my old job." The Imp said, and swung his stilt leg out with a control as equal to any kickboxer. Cassie whirled away, the blow thudding into her back and knocking her sprawling, but she was back up and swinging in turn in a second, spittle flying from her mouth as she snarled…

The Imp ducked under her blow, and his own 'leg' lashed out, slamming into her ankles and knocking her back down…as his other stilt leg spun around and back-roundhoused her across the head again, knocking her fully down and causing her to lose the grip on her bat.

"Little old for me. But I'll make due." The Imp said as he licked his lips, and then he leapt up, pistoning his stilt-leg at Cassie's head.

As she rolled aside and spun back up to her knees as the Imp thudded back down on the ground.

"So will I." She hissed.

As her hand snapped out and grabbed him. By his far too prominent bulge.

The Imp's bug-eyed look would have almost been comical before he started to scream, as Cassie brought every big of crushing force she could bear into her grip, blood staining the spandex beneath her hand before she pushed the Imp away, and as he stumbled backwards she darted forward and seized him by one of his legs.

"Not the size asshole, HOW YOU USE IT!"

And Cassie lifted the midget right off the ground and swung him overhead in a burst of strength fueled by a rage that seemed bottomless, as she smashed him face first into the ground, and then, still in the grip of her fury-born adrenaline blast, swung the Imp around until his head met a nearby telephone pole.

She left his twitching form there, as she turned around and went for her bat…

The scalpel sliced out, so quick Cassie barely saw it, cutting two wounds across her face and chest before she knew it, and she squawked and stumbled backwards again, looking at her new attacker…a doctor. Dressed in classical white shirt and brown pants style, complete with a head covering that had that the small mirror doctors used for some mysterious purpose…and a bear trap grafted onto his face in place of his jaw.

"Holy shit." Cassie said.

"Not quite." Dr. Faustus replied, and hurled his scalpel at Cassie, impaling the girl through her hand as she went for her bat and then knocking her back once more as he impaled another surgical knife into her left shoulder.

"Ah, the joys of first cut." Dr. Faustus sighed, and then sliced another wound across Cassie's chest.

"….Cassie." Vlad said as he saw the attack where he lay, and he furiously pushed himself up to go help…

As Mammoth's cruel hands seized him, lifting him up and smashed him into the ground, and then smashing down on him again in a axehandle blow, the impacts crashing through Vlad with terrible strength and unbelievable anger.

As Danny was smashed in the face with another chain-enhanced fist, knocking him back down…mostly: the chain's give ran out a brief bit before the ground and Danny's neck and head were jerked back with a vicious snap: he was lucky the wrench hadn't broken his neck. Overall, it wasn't the best start.

And then the masked killer snarled and electricity surged through his chain, and Danny found himself being electrocuted again. He screamed in pain…and then grabbed the chain and returned the favor, shocking the masked killer back in turn and making him stumble back. He wore loose black pants and a skintight sleeveless black tee, his chains wrapped around his arms and torso and right up around the back of his head to end attached to two piercing above the maniacal eyes glaring from beneath the hood, as Danny got the Magnus up and sliced through the chain, yanking it off his neck as he pushed himself back up.

"GODDAMN PUNK! NOW I'LL REALLY THROW THE BOOK AT YOU!" The masked killer yelled, and hurled his chains out again.

Danny leapt backwards…

And found himself leaping back into the same furious grip that had seized him before, as the contortionist grabbed him and tangled him up in a painful octopus grip.

"He's MINE Tormentor!" The girl hissed, as Danny struggled to break free before his arms and legs were dislocated, or worse.

"Oh I think we can reach a compromise Violet." Tormentor replied, as he lifted his arms and his barbed chains floated up. "Because this offender definitely needs a bigger whupin'."

And the cutting chains lanced at Danny's head again…

"…no." Danny said, as he threw the Magnus…away, briefly severing their connection.

And then he did Violet one better and phased backwards out through her grip, and the chain smashed into her face with a shriek, as Danny re-appeared and zipped to the side, picking up the Magnus as Violet agonized.

"YOU FUCK!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, and leapt at him.

This time, Danny was ready.

KER-SLASH!

Violet hit the ground, her head rolling a few more feet as her neck gouted fresh blood onto the already soaked streets.

"Not really." Danny replied.

He should have focused on Tormentor.

Too late now, as the chains surged out and seized him, and Danny found himself being yanked off the ground as the chains wrapped around his wrist and ankles, snatching away his sword before he could cut himself free.

"Now you're REALLY in trouble you fucking punk. Time for some old school punishment. Drawing and quartering." Tormentor said, and Danny screamed as the chains began to pull on his limbs…

And Vlad found himself being picked up. He stabbed at Mammoth, but the giant slapped his hands and knocked his knives away before drawing him in and locking his arms up against his chest as he began to crush him in a bear hug. Vlad could feel his ribs and spine screaming…

And Cassie was screaming too, as she missed a punch for Fautus' face and received another scalpel slice across her body. She staggered back, clutching the new wound as it burned. He was toying with her, and she knew it.

"Such a lovely young lady. You will make quite a canvass for my…vision." Dr. Faustus said, and then he charged at Cassie, scalpel slicing out…

As Vlad violently shook his head, seemingly in pain from being crush, but in reality to dislodge his gas mask somewhat, as it slid up on his face…

And he bit at the tape wrapped around his wrist, his teeth seizing onto what was hidden in there…a razor blade.

As he reared back his head and then thrust it forward, slamming the razor straight into Mammoth's left eye.

The giant grunted…

And then Vlad snapped his head back and forward again, headbutting Mammoth and driving the razor all the way in, and the giant finally squealed and let Vlad go, clawing at his face as Vlad dropped down and got his proper blades.

"Size doesn't matter. Hurrrr." Vlad murmured, and stabbed out, driving his knife straight into Mammoth's chest, and then slamming a fist down to make sure it went all the way in, as the giant staggered but didn't fall…

Mammoth introduced his other blade to Mammoth's head, the knife bisecting Mammoth's blank features, and the giant lurched and then fell, landing face first on the knife and driving the point out the back of its skull.

"Ingest me." Vlad then, as he adjusted his mask…and then muttered darkly to himself: he'd probably gotten it wrong again.

As Danny felt the joints in his arms and legs screaming at him for what they were allowing to be done, and Danny concurred.

"Overruled!" Danny snapped, and began pulling back.

And Tormentor found the stick-like Danny had far more strength in his body then one would expect, as he stopped the pressure on his limbs within two seconds, and much to his surprise Tormentor suddenly found the pressure REVERSED, Danny was yanking on HIM. He snarled and redoubled his efforts, but Danny held the course, as he freed his legs from the chains and bore back on the chains wrapped around his arms, pulling with all his might…

On the chains attached to Tormentor's arms and chest.

"NOOOOOOOOOARGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" Tormentor screamed, and then he shrieked as his arms were torn from their sockets, blood gouting from his body as he staggered about, as Danny dumped the chains off his arms and snatched up the Magnus.

"Case dismissed." Danny said, and stabbed Tormentor through the heart, and his body collapsed in ash as Danny turned and walked away.

As Cassie did what all her attackers inevitably wanted: she fell down.

But she did it under her own power, as she darted between Faustus' legs as he slashed at her.

"WHAT?"

As Cassie yanked the scalpel still impaled in her hand out with a scream and slashed out herself, cutting both of Dr. Faustus' Achilles tendons, and as the doctor screamed and fell to his knees Cassie rolled over to her bat and snatched it up.

"It's not the first cut that matters asswipe." Cassie said.

And she swung her bat with all her might, smashing Dr. Faustus across his mutilated face, and with a giant gout of blood his bear trap jaw from ripped from his features, clattering across the ground as more blood sprayed from his face, the doctor not even able to scream…

As Cassie swung the bat up and brought it back down on what was left of Faustus' head, crushing his skull into an unfixable ruin.

"Sorry asshole, no hypocritical oath for me." Cassie said, and spat once more before turning to Marukka. "THAT THE BEST YOU GOT?"

"Please don't taunt the evil demon essence. It never ends well." Danny said as he rejoined Cassie.

"Hurrrrrr. Trim her wings." Vlad commented, doing likewise.

"I guess you thought it's be a cakewalk, didn't you? Sorry shithead, this is my world. You can just go fuck off." Cassie said, as she stalked towards the winged creature, who had stood and watched the whole battle impassively.

"Hmmmmmm…but I'm afraid we're not done. We all have our secrets." Marukka said. "You believe you've won, but clearly you've forgotten about sub-bosses."

"Sub-wha…"

The flaming punch knocking Cassie on her ass, and Danny whirled around as a figure suddenly leapt on Vlad and began pummeling on him anew.

"They are not your concern halfling! It is my turn to taste your blood!" Marukka declared, as she spread her wings and leapt at Danny. Danny whirled back around as the demon flew at him.

And vanished.

"Wha…"

And smashed into his back, having teleported around behind him. Danny flew forward with a yell, trying to turn around…

A blast of demonic hellfire flew from Marukka's hands, and Danny went smashing through the fountain.

As another explosion of fire knocked Cassie on her ass, and she looked up at her attacker: a literal fireman, dressed in a burned fireman's outfit and on fire at the same time, firing wreathing his obscured features as he smiled…and hurled another firebolt at Cassie, as she dodged away, barely.

As Vlad found himself being savaged by…what the hell was it? It had four arms and no legs, two pairs of heads…what it was was a pair of conjoined twins attached at the waist, the two torsos operating in perfect sync as they attacked, one pair of hands stealing Vlad's knives even as another hammered on his face.

"Cain! Judas! Those two are yours! I claim the halfling!" Marukka yelled, and then surged forward at terrible speed as Danny picked himself up from the rubble…

Marukka smashed a wing into him, the limb feeling as hard as steel as he was sent flying once more…as Marukka seized him by the hair and rammed him into a nearby building, dragging him along it for a second before hurling them forward and through another.

And Cassie found herself in total retreat, unable to attack or defend against Cain's flames. She took refuge behind a pile of dead bodies and recoiled as Cain turned his terrible fire on them…even as Vlad's arms were restrained by one pair of hands and another slammed repeated blows into his stomach and chest, before Judas rapidly switched position, one pair of hands seizing Vlad's ankles and another grabbing him by his boiler suit as both sides yanked, hurling Vlad through the air and sending him crashing down near Cassie.

"Vlad! Damn, we're in the shit now!" Cassie said, as Cain continued his fire barrage.

As Danny crashed into the ground nearby, his jacket and suit in tatters from the vicious pummeling Marukka had given him. The god of secrets landed before him.

"You have no hope, halfling. I was butchering civilizations while your species still cowered in caves. What power you wield is far from enough. Surrender to your demise." Marukka said.

Danny coughed, and then he slowly got up. Nearby, Vlad and Cassie cowered behind their rapidly vanishing barrier…

Two more people who would die, because of him. The fact that they could fight back so well didn't seem to matter. Danny's actions had set in motion the events that had led to this, and now they were at risk, those who would fight to save the innocent as he would…

….like hell.

"…actually…I have a secret of my own." Danny said, as he brought the Magnus in front of him. "I just wanted to get an idea of what was necessary. And now I do."

"Oh, you believe your little sword spirit can save you? Impossible, with the degree you've got it sealed."

"Yes…such is the problem of flesh and blood. It can limit what you can do…and for humans, this is wise." Danny said, as he put his fingers against his sword. "But do not confuse conservation with weakness."

"What?" Marukka said.

"UNLOCK." Danny replied.

And the street suddenly exploded with blue radiance, Marukka recoiling from the blast.

Danny's unique sword flew from the light and clattered to the ground. Empty.

As Marukka looked at the Halfa, now standing and holding a massive, surging mass of blue, twisting energy, a combination sword and spear and shield and a few other weapons as well. The true form, and power, of the Magnus, unleashed.

"Bankai." Danny said. "Oh wait, wrong series."

"…Judas! Cain! Forget them! Kill him!" Marukka ordered, pointing at Danny. The pair of demons, wearing the flesh of fictional monsters, immediately turned and went for Danny. Perhaps they saw it as a chance to feast on Danny's unique and powerful energies.

It was the last mistake they made.

Judas ran again on all fours, leaping at Danny with a squeal…

Danny's form blurred, and in the next second there were four Dannys, as they all stabbed upward with blades of pure power and impaled Judas in mid-air.

The freak of nature collapsed, dead on the spot, as the four Dannys merged back into one.

As Cain landed nearby, and with a roar he turned a blast of intense flame on Danny.

Danny turned and looked as the fire came, and then a surge of blue power sprang up before him, stopping the fire dead. Cain snarled and increased the pressure, the fire burning ever higher.

"Been there, done that." Danny said quietly, and then slashed out, and fire sprang from his own form, blasting out and overwhelming Cain's own flame, and as the fireman's eyes widened it consumed him, blowing the flesh off his bones in a fiery spray of fat and sizzling muscle, as his blackened skeleton collapsed on the ground.

Danny turned back to Marukka, as Cassie and Vlad watched in slack-jawed amazement. They'd seen some crazy shit, but even for them, this was a keeper.

Marukka growled.

And Danny slashed out with the Magnus, and a blast of blue power flew out, a sword of energy that zapped through the air like a bullet. Marukka dodged it, but Danny just fired another, and another, and another, and Marukka had to take to the air to avoid the assault of the cutting blades.

And so did Danny, all shackles on his powers removed as he flew once more, as he raised the Magnus and cut loose, sending blast after blast of deadly cutting power after the demon, Marukka dodging through the skies as it avoided blade after blade by the skin of her non-existent teeth…

As Danny yelled and then fired a spray of the blades, the blue cutting bolts ripping through the air…

As Marukka abruptly turned and dove back at Danny, zipping through the spray of air blades and grabbing onto Danny as the teenager's eyes went wide.

"I have a few secrets of my own." Marukka said.

And then in a surge of dark energy, Danny Phantasm was turned to stone.

"OH SHIT!" Cassie said as Marukka hurled the Halfa's rocky form back down towards the damned town that a tragically misguided idiot had condemned to a wretched death…

As Danny shattered on the ground, and for a moment Cassie thought he was dead…until Danny's body flew from the mass of rock and bounced a few more times before coming to a stop. He'd just been encased in stone rather then being turned through and through.

Not that it seemed to make much difference, as Danny lay there, broken and unmoving, as Marukka flew back down.

"Sealed power or none, you cannot change what you were born as, halfling. Flesh and blood. Your existence is set. To rot. And fester. And be devoured by those superior." Marukka said. "Do you know the greatest secret of all? All that exists, exists only to stop existing."

"…oh geez, you ate that fuckwit who summoned you's brain, didn't you?"

Cassie's bat flew out…

Marukka caught it without even looking.

"He was more right then even he knew." Marukka said, and hurled Cassie backwards into Vlad, as the demon turned. "Let me show you…"

"No…"

Marukka turned back as Danny started getting back up, the blue energy of the Magnus swirling back around his right hand.

"You will not." Danny said, as he stood, his back to Marukka. "This is over."

"You wish to make a last futile effort?"

"No." Danny said, as he reached down and picked up the empty blade that housed his greatest weapon. "No need."

"You have accepted the inevitable?"

"No…" Danny said. "Just waiting for you to see my last secret."

"What…" Marukka said.

As she saw the flicker…the flicker across the nearly invisible blade of energy that was floating in the air.

As the flicker went across ALL of them, and Marukka realized what Danny had been talking about. He hadn't fired all those cutting, piercing energy blades and let them just fly off into the ether. That had all been a feint.

And now they'd all returned, gathered around the demon.

Aimed at her.

Cassie and Vlad saw them, and they threw themselves on the ground.

"I warned you." Danny said.

"NO!"

And Danny slammed the Magnus power back into his sword.

As the blades all slashed out, so fast Marukka couldn't even teleport.

The buildings around the demon exploded into ruins as the blades tore through them, and Marukka was briefly transfixed at their heart…and then blood exploded twenty feet into the air as all the blades ripped through her, a massive fountain of gore and destruction.

Such is the weaknesses of the flesh. All flesh.

Marukka fell, her body disintegrating into so much meat, as Danny turned around and swung his sword behind him, placing it against its hilt.

"Game over." He said, and drove the blade home.

* * *

"You gonna be alright?" Danny said some time later. 

"Owtch. Hazards of the job." Cassie said, as she finished stitching up her hand, Vlad and her having raided a pharmacy for medical supplies. As well as all the cash registers in town. Cassie felt a bit guilty about that, but she and Vlad had to eat.

"Hurrrrr. How about you, Danny?" Vlad asked, pressing an even larger ice pack to his face.

"I'll live. I always do. Bad habit of mine." Danny said. The tone was semi-jokingly. Semi. "The pall's lifted. This is just a dead town now. But there's other threats out there."

"No kidding." Cassie said. "Hey kid, I wanted to apologize. I was rough on you earlier. I take it all back. You're fucking hardcore, man."

"No. I'm not." Danny said. Cassie blinked. "I'm just someone trying to do the right thing. The rest is just tools for the task. They do not define me."

Cassie was silent.

"Keep that in mind. That's their greatest trick you know. They turn you into them. And then you end up the hunted."

"Save the Dr. Phil kid. I'm not as dumb as you look." Cassie said. Danny gave her a wry, tired glance. Cassie grinned.

"Keep kicking ass and taking names. Maybe we'll see you around." Cassie said, as she offered a hand. Danny took it.

"But don't bring your troubles to us again, hurrrr." Vlad added. Cassie looked at her partner.

"What, you kidding Vlad? This is one for the scrapbook!"

"We nearly got killed a dozen times over, and we do not have a scrapbook."

"It's a metaphor."

"Mmmmmm. Metaphors don't work."

"Oh Danny, could you…" Cassie said as she turned back.

Only to find him gone.

"…damn. He is a ghost kid." Cassie said.

"Only in America." Vlad said. "…did I use the expression correctly this time?"

"…it'll serve Vlad. It'll serve."

* * *

_Arthur Ashe wrote "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."_

_You don't always need a dictionary to find the truth in words._

_End file._

CLICK!

* * *

Cassie and Vlad are owned by Devil's Due publishing and their comic series Hack/Slash. Thrill Kill is probably owned by someone (yes, it really exists) but I don't know who. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, and it REALLY irks me how much he stole from me, so in your face Kubo, I steal from you! (Not really. My ideas and his just turned out remarkably alike in some aspects. It annoys me.) 

See you later.

Maybe.


	4. Halloween 2008: Down With The Sickness

_**A Horror Story 4: Down With The Sickness**_

_Blah blah Phantasm not Phantom etc etc, you should know the drill by now._

_This year I figured I'd do another examination of certain kinds of evil. Considering the time period this story was written during, it may seem close to home._

* * *

_**Ambition is not inherently a bad thing.**_

_**Why should it be? Natural instinct is to survive and thrive. Humans have demonstrated that they can utilize their old animal instincts beyond their initial capacities, indeed, they are almost compelled to do so in their own base design. There is nothing wrong with improving one's lot in life.**_

_**It's how you go about it...therein lies the problem.**_

_**Maybe it's just a flaw inherent in the system, how those who so desperately seek power are often the least deserving of it. I could go on for pages about cruel kings and dictators, with their armies of sadistic secret police and their abominations committed towards their fellow man, all in the end for some vaguely defined and understood desire of "more". How much history of the Christian religion was using words of love and understanding towards your fellow man to control and murder others. How so many wars could be defined by the old French soldier's curse "lions led by donkeys"...**_

_**But still, ambition...it's not a bad thing, in and of itself.**_

_**I just wish...more people understood the dark side of it, instead of embracing it as the norm.**_

_**I think that's really how this incident went down. Someone with great tools enters a world that is, by its nature, skewed. You know how a hot tub seems unpleasant when you first enter it? Same thing. Actually, maybe a better analogy is a broken leg bone that doesn't heal correctly, back in the older days of medicine. You simply had to adapt to the new way your limb did (or didn't) work, or you'd fall behind and die.**_

_**What happens when you enter something where the wrong way has become the right way by who knows how many years of blind adaption?**_

_**Changing a system...the task seems as inhuman as the flaws do.**_

_**So most just become a part of it. It feeds on itself. And then along comes the next crop.**_

_**Before you know it, the best for the job are the worst suited for it.**_

_**Maybe.**_

_**Maybe we're all just screwed up, somewhere deep down.**_

_**But I know I wouldn't have done what happened when one of River Dynamics' subsidiaries made a weird little thing while doing some research one day...

* * *

**_New York City. July 22nd, 200X

River Dynamics would have insisted that the concept of the all-consuming supercorporation was ridiculous, a product of dystopic science fiction and people who were still certain man had faked the moon landing. In the era of accounting scandals and stock market upheavals, credibility was an important thing.

And as far as River Dynamics' CEO Thaddeus Quisling was concerned, once you learned to fake that, you were on your way.

Not that every part of his company and it's various holdings was shot through with corruption carefully concealed through the alternating use of smoke and mirrors and bread and circuses. Oh no. Part of Quisling's efforts over the past 15 years had been focused on making sure there wasn't some tumor growing away in a corner of his company, the one his father had started and broken his back and health to build into the once-steel and now electronics and communications-based giant it was, with sub-divisions in various other divisions, primarily medical ( as they were started by Thaddeus' father in an attempt to cure his mother's cancer, and continued after he had failed in his attempts to prevent that pain from befalling someone else), that would drag the whole body down with it.

He'd done pretty well, as far as he could tell.

True, maybe it wasn't all clean...but what in business was? Someone had once condemned Thaddeus at some dinner for some scandal over supposed "biological weapons" that his company may or may not have been connected to. Thaddeus had been calm and courteous, when in reality he wanted to grab the idiot's face and scream that they better damn well hope that companies like his developed the next world-killing superbug, because you could bet that over in Russia, or China, or India, or some other backwater place where they didn't speak English the very same efforts were being made by people who likely had far less morals and sanity in their way then those who were trying to design such things in the States. People liked to condemn the States for being a bully too. Thaddeus admitted it wasn't perfect, far from it...but if a hundred people in the States were offered a button that, if pressed, would spontaneously kill every single person in the Middle East, Thaddeus honestly believed that a quarter of them would press it, at most. And probably even less if they were shown clear proof the button worked. If such a button was offered in reverse, could you say the same? Oh yes, there were many debates you could make, and many had valid points...but in the end, do you really think the number of people in the Middle East would be less?

There was always going to be dirt involved. Always some level of murk. Better to accept it and work with it then fight against it. That fight was pointless.

It was one of the many lessons Thaddeus had learned on his climb to the top. Oh, no cronyism here. His father had pushed him to the breaking point to earn the position he'd built, and Thaddeus had done so. He deserved this position, and all it entailed. And he didn't need someone telling him he was a bad man for it. Had he done bad things? Yes. So did everyone else. It did not make him a bad man.

And it didn't make his company evil because it did engage in some less-then-noble practices.

Of course, Thaddeus had no intention of arguing these things. He had work to do. And that had been what he'd been doing.

Until the doors to his office had abruptly opened, startling him out of his focus. Anger shot through him: he hated, HATED being interrupted, and even more so when the person didn't knock. Someone was getting fired soon...

Except Thaddeus didn't think that the person walking through his door worked for him.

Considering he couldn't recall any part of his company where the workers would do their jobs wearing a black and white skintight outfit and long duster coat. Not to mention the boy's white hair, which Thaddeus was pretty sure was against company grooming standards.

"...who the hell are..." Thaddeus said.

"I'm Danny." Danny Phantasm replied, as he went over to the wall, selected a chair, and dragged it in front of Thaddeus' large desk, sitting down in it. "Hello."

"...how the hell did you get in...security...!" Thaddeus snapped, as he pressed a button under his desk.

"Don't bother Mr. Quisling. Twenty minutes ago everyone in the company got an urgent email for a basement meeting in...the Vidkun building, I believe it was. Your secretary also got one demanding that you not be disturbed before that other email was sent. By you."

"What? I sent no email!"

"Yes, that's sort of the point. By the time everyone realizes they've been mislead, well...it will be some time. You've got a lot of good little trained seals here. As for your security, someone called down to investigate a strange incident in the parking lot. You can't see it from up here, but a few friends of mine are leading them on a merry chase. And just to make sure they're not distracted, well, every line of communication up here has suffered a bad case of, what was it called, oh yes, ghost signal complete shutdown. It's like that movie: anyone who looks or check sees a carefully modulated loop of normality unless they look carefully. You know the movie don't you? It had that bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty, and if it's speed dropped, it would explode? I think it was called..._The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down._"

Thaddeus stared incredulously at the white-haired boy.

"...right, should have realized you don't watch _The Simpsons._" Danny said.

"What is the point of this intrusion!"

"Oh, blank indignation. Good to see you keeping to the checklist. I'd like to have a talk with you."

"If you think I'm going to just sit here and..."

Thaddeus didn't see where the sword came from: just that a moment later the boy was slamming it down on his desk.

"I INSIST." Danny said calmly. Thaddeus stared at the weapon (how strange, it was full of square holes running up the blade...but its point seemed as sharp as any other sword, and that was the part to avoid), then at the boy who called himself Danny, who shifted in his chair, his strange green eyes looking at Thaddeus.

Thaddeus took a moment to collect himself before sitting down. He could handle this. He'd had meetings with hostile people before.

"You seem to have gone to considerable trouble. What exactly do you want to discuss with me?"

"Ah yes, aren't we slick." Danny said. "Actually, you can rest that likely silver tongue of yours. I'll do the talking."

* * *

_Romero, Mississippi. July 8__th__, 200X._

"_Geez. And I thought things like this only existed in Neo-Con's wet dreams." Danny commented as he looked at the green sign besides the road that welcomed him to Romero, proclaiming it had a population of 27,000 and that it was "Nice To Have You"._

"_Been having more late nights with Sam?"_

"_I've had insomnia lately." Danny replied, as he walked back to the road. "So, you're certain you're getting no Fissure readings."_

"_None, nope, nada. This place is completely clean."_

"_Right, completely clean. It just showed a sudden unnatural spike in 911 calls and frantic web messages about contradicting details of some kind of disaster, and then had all communication abruptly cease shortly afterward. AND all records of said confusion were found to be "in error" twelve hours later. That either means Fissure activity, or the town fell into the Twilight Zone." Danny said. "Something's not right here, and I want to find out what."_

"_What if it's not our business?"_

"_Strangeness is our business Tuck. No matter how it goes down." Danny said, as he started walking down the road._

_No cars. That was NEVER a good sign. It wasn't exactly a major highway that Danny was walking down, but there should have been SOME kind of vehicle passing back and forth. When there was..._

_...what the heck was that?_

_What Danny had first thought were some harmless streetlights or telephone poles were quickly revealed to be something else, mainly because one of them was actually driven into the road itself (well technically, a foot off the actual side of the road, but still). Not to mention they had no lights or wires attached to them._

_And the fact that once Danny got closer, it was clear they kept going in both directions._

"_...Tuck you there?"_

"_Roger."_

"_Get that satellite you were considering "borrowing" zoomed in here. Tell me if you see a series of metal pylons surrounding the town."_

"_Dude, it's not a toy. You want me to sneak past about 6,000 firewalls, about three times that many trouble sensors, and hijack a 3 billion dollar piece of equipment that's so delicate that if someone sneezed on it it would go nuts?"_

"_Well yes."_

"_I did it while you walked down the road."_

"_Tuck I love you man."_

"_Is it that kind of story?"_

"_...What? Story?"_

"_Nevermind. I'm scanning in...uh...oh that's not good."_

"_What's not good?"_

"_I can't get a clear picture. That means two things. Clouds or smoke."_

_Danny arched an eyebrow, and then looked up into the clear blue sky. Not a cloud in sight._

"_Curiouser and curiouser." Danny said, as he approached the strange metal poles. "So you can't really check Tuck?"_

"_Doing my best...you should be able to see the smoke yourself, there should be towers of it..."_

"_Yet I don't..." Danny said, as he stopped. "Signing off for the moment Tuck."_

_And Danny tapped at his ear, turning off the tiny communication device within._

"_...yeah I know."_

_Danny stared at the strange metal poles._

"_I was considering that myself."_

_He kept looking._

"_We don't know for sure."_

_He nodded._

"_Sounds viable." Danny said, as he removed the sheathed sword from his back and let it go, the weapon floating in the air as Danny approached the giant metal rods._

"_Nothing yet...nothing yet...nothing..."_

_And then Danny stepped between the pillars, and he abruptly felt his hair stand on end._

_And a moment later gigantic arcs of electricity zapped between the two pillars Danny had crossed, untold millions of volts dancing back and forth between the two rods for several seconds before stopping._

_As Danny phased back into tangibility fifteen feet back the way he'd come, as he skipped backwards a few more steps before stopping._

"_Geez." Danny said: if he hadn't gone ghostly the sheer voltage passing between the pillars would have cooked even him well-done. "Nickolai Tesla should sue...well, if he wasn't dead for decades."_

_His sword floated up to him._

"_...good idea...but be ready, just in case." Danny said, as he grabbed the floating weapon and began running backwards._

_And then sprinted forward for several meters before he jumped into the air, easily clearing the 20 foot tall poles and several dozen feet beyond that..._

_As the vision of a peaceful distant town was suddenly replaced by anything but._

_Danny landed, his eyes wide. Tucker was right: there WAS smoke, lots of it, coming from the town of Romero, tall towers filling the air above the place. Danny jerked his head back, looking at the pillars. They weren't just electrical death-rods. They were projecting some kind of hologram between their lengths that hid the truth of the town. If Danny had been looking in a more upward direction as he'd approached it, he might have noticed the incongruity between what was shown in the the hemisphere distance and the eye level distance. But he hadn't._

_Well, live and learn. Provided he was still alive when this was over._

"_Hey Tuck." Danny said as he re-activated his communication nub. "Remember how I couldn't see any smoke...?"

* * *

_"The NX-30 Imbedded Disabling Barrier." Danny said, as he laid some paper on Thaddeus' desk. "Capable of projecting a non-surface photographic concealment replica of whatever is programmed in...in order to lure the targets between the lengths where sensors will throw variable amounts of electricity between them, from mild disabling amounts to full on armored personal vehicle destruction. Patented to TenCo, which is a shell company owned by PilgramTech, which is a subsidiary to FlowTFD...which is of course, one of the lesser divisions of River Dynamics." Danny said. "As a friend of mine said, not exactly something you could buy at a Radio Shack. Especially since the technology is at least five years away from military testing. But wait, we're just getting started."

* * *

_Now that Danny could see the proper truth, he found that the absence of cars made sense._

_Because they were all crashed on the road beyond the barrier, everything from stopped and abandoned cars to burning wrecks. The stench of burning metal and plastics filled Danny's nose...and even that wasn't enough to block out a deeper, more organic scent beneath._

_Burning human flesh. Danny was mildly familiar with that smell. And he hated it._

"_We have a Quiet." Danny said, their code word for "something really bad has gone down but we don't know exactly what"._

"_Do you want backup Danny?" Maddie Fenton cut in on the line to ask. She always did. Danny didn't blame her._

"_Let me get some more information first." Danny said, as he walked through the abandoned cars..._

_He almost didn't notice the sign due to them, barely catching it in the corner of his eye, as he turned around to look at it._

**WARNING: DO NOT PASS THE METAL BARRIERS. APPROACH THE GRAY-SUITED MEN INSTEAD AND MAKE IT CLEAR YOU ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THE ATTACK. THEY WILL PROTECT YOU. BE CLEAR IN APPROACH, OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE SHOT.**

_Danny did not see any gray-suited men. He wondered if they still existed._

"_...Tuck is there any government activity in this area?"_

"_Nothing official."_

"_What about UNofficial?"_

"_I checked when we were heading here. Nothing. No tucked away labs, no concealed military bases..."_

"_Check other routes then." Danny said, as he turned and began walking through the cars again. "Don't leave anything out. If there's no Fissure activity then something..."_

_And Danny walked around an SUV...and stopped._

"_...oh God." Danny said.

* * *

_"You've heard of Thalidomide, I assume?" Danny asked. Thaddeus gave no answer in his indignant imprisonment. "No?"

Danny dropped some more papers on top of the first ones.

"Thalidomide. Developed by the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal in 1957. Used as a sedative-hypnotic, and also used as a medicine to treat multiple myeloma, which is a type of bone cancer. However, it was chiefly used in the several years it was on the general market as an antiemetic, a vomit-prevention type of medicine, specifically to women to aid with morning sickness...which is a very, very BAD thing as Thalidomide, as it turned out, was also a potent teratogen, a chemical that causes birth defects. Pregnant women, birth defects. Perhaps you see the problem." Danny said. "The reason this was not discovered before thousands of women suffered was because the drug was forced through testing, which resulted in incomplete studies, mainly because drugs are profitable and what company doesn't like profits?"

"I don't like your accusation young-"

"Not done. The only reason it wasn't a lot _worse_ was that a woman by the name of Frances Oldham Kelley who was working for the FDA refused to market the drug in the United States until further tests were done, _despite_ great pressure from Thalidomide's maker company Grünenthal. Her refusal proved correct, and she was rightly honored as a heroine who saved thousands of other women from suffering the same tragedy." Danny said. "...I sometimes wonder...people learn two kinds of lessons from such a thing. They learn what they did wrong...or they learn how to make sure they're considered right."

* * *

_It wasn't the first time Danny had seen a corpse. Finding bodies had become a rather depressingly common occurrence for him the last few years, ever since Vlad screwed everything up in his selfish delusions._

_It wasn't even the first time he'd stumbled across something EATING a corpse. In fact, that had happened fairly recently. And oh what fun it had led to..._

_The problem was what was eating the corpse. It wasn't a monster._

_It was people._

_Two people, to be precise. One was ripping chunks of the face off with its teeth, the other was...wasn't actually eating the corpse. Instead, it was just ripping pieces of flesh out of the ruined mess that had once been the body's, a man's body to be precise, stomach cavity...and throwing them aside as it reached in to rip more free. The killers were a black teenage girl and a white man in a business suit, both as bloody as their victim as they ravaged the corpse._

"_...damn." Danny whispered._

_Apparently that was enough for them to hear, as both snapped up their heads and looked at him with blazing, psychotic eyes._

"_DAMN." Danny repeated._

_And then they were attacking him, sprinting towards him with inhuman shrieks._

"_Damn, runners! Stupid remakes!" Danny cursed as he recoiled away from his attackers, as they grabbed and clawed at him, trying to get a grip on his coat. Danny leapt up and back, landing on a car a few dozen feet away, as his attackers briefly looked around for him._

"_Tuck I have a...!" Danny tried to say._

_And then the crazed, bloody humans were attacking him again, forcing Danny to run off the car and leap some distance away again._

"_Flare! I need an analysis!" Danny said as he yanked the sword free from his sheath, having kept it in hand the whole time. "Yes that kind!"_

_Danny's attackers were charging again, and Danny realized that if his knowledge of anatomy (which was decidedly lacking despite his mother's efforts) was correct, the businessman was running on a broken knee. Which should have been impossible...but considering what Danny had found the two doing, he already had a pretty good idea why it wasn't._

_As grayish energy flowed out from his sword, and speared out from the tip of it, forming a ten-foot long line from the end of the blade as Danny slashed it out. _

_The gray energy went right through the attacking savages without harming them._

_But that was what Danny wanted, as he again leapt away, this time over them, as he bounded with several more quick leaps to land nearby a burning car._

_If Danny had been paying attention, he might have noticed the car was freshly burning._

"_...what?" Danny said, as he watched the savages thrash around in the distance, unable to find him this time. "Are you...?"_

_As another form, all aflame, erupted from the burning car and pounced on Danny from behind._

"_GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Danny screamed, even as the burning body that had once been another teenage girl tried to sink her teeth into his neck, even as the fire seared at his exposed skin..._

_As Danny bent over and put a hand on his chest, firing an ecto-blast right through him that blew off his flaming attacker. She crashed down to the ground with a sickening crunch, even as Danny snorted, icy air shooting out and flowing over his back to quench any remaining fire. At least his attacker wasn't getting back up: the severe angle her head was now twisted at suggested why..._

_As the other two savages charged at him, screaming._

"_...damn."_

_And Danny ran at the pair, as reddish energy erupted on his blade this time._

_There were two swift slashes._

_And the savages fell, their heads rolling off their shoulders and smacking down on the ground._

_For a moment, Danny was worried they would get back up again._

_Then he realized that, despite his efforts, he HAD been bitten on the neck._

"_Flare, another check. Hurry." Danny said, as he pressed the sword to his neck, feeling his heartbeat pound within his chest._

"_Danny? What's going on?" Maddie said in his earpiece: Danny ignored her for the moment, listening to Flare speak inside his head._

"_You're sure?"_

_More noise in the distance. Danny peered towards it._

"_...whew. Thank god for some small favors." Danny said, and pressed down on his ear. "Tuck, Mom...well, you're not gonna believe this...you know that dream scenario that Tucker's spent the last seven months preparing for ever since he read World War Z?"_

"_Cool! You mean there are...!" Tucker interrupted._

"_NO! NOT COOL! IT'S TERRIBLE!" Danny abruptly yelled back. "And I got bitten."_

"_WHAT?" Maddie screamed._

"_I'm all right. Flare says whatever's wrong with them can't be transferred...well, by being bitten anyway."_

"_Wow, weak man." Tucker said._

"_Tuck, I love you and all, BUT CRAM IT." Danny growled. "Real people are dead. And if I don't do something, more are going to be, whether whatever this is can be transferred or..."_

_And then they appeared, more savages. Danny had been correct when he thought he'd heard something. And apparently, they in turn had heard Danny._

"_I'll get back to you." Danny said, as he turned off the communication, as the red energy ignited on Flare again._

_The savages charged, shrieking._

"_I'm sorry." Danny said._

_And then he went to work.

* * *

_"According to this, you were considering selling it under the name Tafebeno." Danny said, dropping more papers on Thaddeus' desk. "It's clever, the way you buried it under all this medical gobbledygook. Most people would have no idea they were ingesting a synthetic worm."

"If you are suggesting..."

"Oh no. I've seen the reports. Your sub-division, what was it called, Saferlife? They were trying to create something that could pinpoint and destroy cancerous cells. Less risky then chemo and radiation. You ended up creating something else. It's happened before." Danny said. "Instead you created something that, in your testing, was found to attach to the stomach, absorb a certain amount of nutrients, and then die and be expelled by the body. What makes people fat? They eat too much food, or the wrong kinds of food, or both. The body's designed to use a certain amount of nutrients; if there's too much, or if it can't use or expel the junk aspects of the food, it gets stored as fat for later. An old survival mechanism, which is backfiring now because too many people don't need to worry about survival but other things and their bodies are getting warped accordingly. Yes yes, there's stuff involved like genes and bone structures too sometimes too. This is about the bad kind of fat, the unhealthy kind of fat. And considering the mindset of companies, I can't blame you for wanting to sell it as a diet aid. It seems quite literally win/win: the worm does all the work, using up the extra nutrients so the body doesn't stockpile them, and then it's expelled with the rest of the waste, and people lose weight, possibly even without diet and exercise."

"I assure you..."

"What part of I'll do the talking did you not understand?" Danny asked. "Like I said, it would all be perfect if you'd properly and fully tested it. But why would you want to do that? The weight crisis is NOW. Proper testing could take years. So you steamrolled the process through. It should be easy, considering all the money you've "donated" to various groups. And hey, you had a good place to ensure the squeaky wheel got the grease. A little town called Romero."

* * *

_The Magnus Flareium rent the air. Blood sprayed. Limbs detached. Voices shrieked in uncontrollable anger, as Danny hacked and slashed his way through the few dozen attackers that had been drawn to him, the out of control former humans finding Danny a far more slippery target then their previous victims. Danny grimaced at the work: his sword was burning with a "fire up and forget" type of energy he called "Absolute", mainly because there was absolutely no way to dampen it down: it struck living flesh, no matter what its precise condition was, and sent a destroying shockwave through the creature's nervous system that fried the brain. Against living creatures, Danny would never consider using it._

_But these poor bastards really couldn't be considered living any more, not after what Flare had told him. So in that regard, it was mercy._

_And messy: another advantage was that unlike the classic way to deal with "these problems" was to aim for the head, this let Danny hit them anywhere and kill them. And considering he was all alone, he didn't have time for precise cuts and attacks: he had to hack a few down in anyway possible, whether it was a glancing cut or a complete body bisection, and then scramble away to keep the rest from overwhelming him. The end result was if he'd wandered into a slaughterhouse randomly swinging some chainsaws around: by the time all the former humans were cut down Danny was covered in blood._

"_...Geez...talk about a way to run a railroad." Danny cursed, as he tapped the bud in his ear. "Danny here."_

"_Are you all right?" Maddie asked_

"_In a sense. Look Mom, I know you want to come in and help, but I still need more..."_

_Another Savage, as Danny had decided to officially call them, appeared, running at Danny. Danny blasted it off its feet from a distance and stabbed it while it was down._

"_Information. So hold off..."_

_Three more came for Danny. One wide slash put their spasming bodies to rest._

"_Until I..."_

_One nearly snuck up on him, resulting in Danny disemboweling the Savage when he swung. The smell of the spilling intestines made his stomach roil, and he quickly moved on._

"_Figure precisely how we're going to tackle this!" Danny said. "I'll sign in again in a bit!"_

_And with that, Danny turned off communications and resumed cutting._

_It might have worked out better if he'd stayed on, as Danny fought his way up the road, dispatching Savages in ones and twos and small pockets and feeling worse and worse at the fact he wasn't finding any survivors. Because his teammates had begun to debate the fact that if there was something sealing the town OFF, the odds were good that there was something INSIDE the barrier besides the poor bastards who had once been normal human beings._

_As Danny found out, there was._

_The hard way: he'd entered the suburbs of Romero and had been taking care of business...until said business suddenly involved three rough families. Including young children._

_Danny knew they were beyond help, but the concept of hacking up young kids made his stomach turn worse then the smell of guts._

_So he'd done a lot more dancing and dodging then attacking, to ensure he could deal the kids fatal wounds "that he could live with"._

_He was down to two kids and one adult when he heard the faint yelling. He leapt back and turned towards it..._

_To see strange forms in front of him, covered in full-body gray armor (oh look the gray suited men) and illuminated, faceplated helmets..._

_And wielding flamethrowers._

"_HEY WAIT A...!"_

_As the weapons lived up to their names, and Danny was, for not the first time in his life, on the receiving end of an inferno.

* * *

_"The Alexander Corps." Danny said, as he dropped still more papers on Thaddeus' desk. "Technically called a private security company, but more truthfully known as mercenaries. Which is all fine and good...except they really shouldn't have Neon-NGH body armor, which according to this..."

More papers.

"Is also a good seven-eight years behind when it would be economically viable to equip soldiers with them...something about how paying seven million dollars per man is a bit too high at the moment...but where the army balks, private enterprise is always willing to step forward, right?"

"Do you have a point?" Thaddeus replied, his indignation being to be replaced by annoyed frustration.

"Getting there...because the question would be, why would such a group with such equipment be doing in a small town in Mississippi a good 24 hours before I showed up..."

* * *

_As more of the A-Corps personal stepped from behind the flame units and opened fire with several quick bursts from their machine guns, dropping the last remaining Savages as they danced in the grip of the flames._

"_...did anyone see anything wei-" One began._

_As Danny leapt straight up out of the thick smoke, the glowing energy dispersing from around him as he flipped forward and landed in front of the startled mercenaries. That had been rather close, but after some of the fire that Danny had been on the receiving end of in his lifetime, blasts of ignited chemicals lacked a certain bite._

_Danny had hoped jumping up in an arc instead of right out of the flames would prevent skittish trigger fingers from directing bullets at him._

_He was wrong there, as the soldiers yelled and began shooting at him._

"_GAH! ACK! STOP SHOOTING!" Danny yelled, more green shielding energy exploding around him, even as a bullet ricocheted off of it and sent a spike of pain drilling between Danny's eyes: he wasn't used to such "normal" assaults. "STOP SHOOTING! I'M ON YOUR SIDE!"_

_Well, Danny wasn't sure of that, but there was no time to split hairs._

"_CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE IDIOTS! THE A.I.S DON'T TALK!" A voice yelled, as another armored mercenary, his protective armor smeared with blood, yelled as he appeared behind the group, his voice managing to succeed where Danny's had failed, as the armored men lowered their guns. Danny in turn dropped his shield and turned his sword away from the group as he rubbed his eyes._

"_You!" The Maybe-Sergeant said, as he drew a sidearm and aimed it at Danny. "Identify yourself immediately!"_

_Go figure.  
"I'm the Phantasm." Danny replied, not exactly willing to give out his "full name". "I'm afraid I don't have a rank or a serial number to give you."_

"_...what are you doing here?"_

"_The same reason rejects from Halo are running around Any Suburb, USA." Danny said. "Look, are we just going to argue over pointless nonsense? Because if we are just say so so I can get out of here."_

"_...stand down men, go help the survivors." The MS said, as he gestured towards the flamethrower and rifle wielding mercenaries. _

"_But sir, our orders..."_

"_Our orders have changed four times in the last nine hours! DO IT!" The MS roared. This time the armored men listened, as they turned and ran off without another word. Following their motion, Danny could see more of the armed and armored mercenaries in the distance...escorting shell-shocked normal people who all bore the same dead-eyed look from having the uncanny valley dropped on them with a vengeance._

"_I'm assuming since you just got yourself out of the way of a purifying strike by jumping several dozen feet into the air that you didn't just wander in looking for a gas station." The MS said, as he pressed a button on his helmet as the tinted blue plastic slid aside, revealing old, scarred features. Italian, Danny thought. "Said jump might also explain why our deterrents didn't keep you out."_

"_You guessed right. What's going on?"_

"_We don't know kid. We were just sent in to "neutralize a problem"...and I've lost a third of my men because they didn't specify just what kind of problem." The MS said. "I should have known something was going down when they ordered those electro-rods deployed."_

"_That bad?"_

"_Kid, I am one step away from firebombing this whole forsaken town and god damn the consequences." The MS said._

"_I want to help."_

"_Why?"_

"_It's what I do."_

"_...one of those types I see. All right, what can you do?"_

"_A lot."_

"_Details would be nice."_

"_I've learned not to give those out."_

"_Kid, if I can't make an accurate assessment of what you can do, I could send you to your death. I may not know you or care, but I'm not a monster." The MS said._

"_Let me worry about that."_

"_...all right, if that's the way you want to play it..." The MS said, as he led Danny over to an armored personal carrier where two mercenaries were being treated for wounds and more shell-shocked survivors were being herded away from a battle in the near-distance: Danny could hear faint yells and snarls mixed with gunshots and the hollow sucking noise of flamethrowers, as the MS led him to a table with a map._

"_Now, as you've probably found out, the A.I.S'..."_

"_The what?"_

"_Aggressive Irreversible Subjects, the things that were once human, poor bastards."_

"_...right...really rolls off the tongue." Danny commented. A.I.S. How very military._

"_Right. First off, forget about trying to save or fix them. The damage is, as their name says, irreversible. They might as well already be dead."_

"_...okay." Danny said quietly, deciding not to mention that Flare had already told him exactly that. Despite said uncanny valley all around them, Danny doubted the military man could deal with a talking sword spirit._

"_Also, as you probably also saw, they don't feel any pain..."_

"_And only go down if you shoot them in the head?"_

"_Or cook them a good while. Or both." The MS said. "The only blessing is they can't spread their disease. They can rip you apart with the strength of madness, but they can't turn you into one."_

"_You're sure?"_

"_Our multiple tests, observations, and autopsies confirm it." The MS said. "One of the few blessings we've had in this slice of hell."_

"_This "problem"...it can't raise the dead, can it?"_

"_...no kid. Why would it? That's ridiculous."_

"_I just wanted to make sure. Because on the surface this strikes me as very much like..."_

"_DON'T. Say that word." The MS said. "Now, here's the town..."_

_The MS laid out a map._

"_We are HERE." The MS said, pointing to a spot near the bottom of the map. "Now, THIS area..." The MS said, indicating a chunk of the west and southwest. "Is pretty much clear. It's where we're keeping the survivors. Due to an opening that showed up about four hours ago, we're cleaning out the area HERE..." The southeast. "With a big push. Apparently it drew away the border guards who would have radioed in about your presence otherwise. The problem is HERE."_

_The MS stabbed his finger in the northeast of the map._

"_When this manifested, it was the main road out of town. People tried to run that way, and the A.I.S followed and ended up massing there. We sealed off the town before they could get any further, but doing that had created a giant mob that our few probe efforts have proven would be very unfeasible to directly assault. We've managed to keep that...corpus if you will, from surging back and overwhelming us...but I don't think we can do it much longer." The MS said. "You want to help kid? Go in there and thin the herd. It'll let us advance and crush the remaining numbers once we've fully evacuated and sterilized the other area."_

"_How long do you need?"_

"_An hour...maybe 90 minutes tops! Is that feasible?"_

"_...survivors?"_

"_In that death pit? Long odds child. Very long odds. Never say never...but I doubt it." The MS said. "You want to rescue people? Then keep those A.I.S off our backs. Best thing you can do...all alone anyway."_

"_I'm not alone. I can call in help if you need it."_

"_How much?"_

"_Not a giant number, but definitely something."_

"_...well, I can hardly refuse, can I?" The MS said. "What do they look like?"_

_Danny gave a proper description and then turned away, tapping on his earbud. He'd put the receiver in wide range sound when he'd jumped out of the fire: hopefully the team had heard everything. Considering they'd stopped talking to him shortly after the MS had, Danny figured they had. Or he'd lost the signal, which was something he didn't need._

"_You did hear that right?" He actually asked._

"_They're suiting up now Danny." Tucker replied._

"_Track my location. Work from there. I'm going into the tangle."_

"_Alone?"_

"_Yes, alone. I have the best chance of coming out alive." Danny said. "I'll contact you if anything changes. And Tuck? Don't treat this like a video game. It's not."_

"_No, that was last year."_

"_...was that a year ago...ugh, my ability to keep track of time sucks these days." Danny said. "Heading in. Out...of contact." Danny said, as he signed off. "I'm going."_

"_Well good luck kid...do try not to die." The MS said._

"_Been there." Danny said. "Know the road."_

_And then Danny sprinted off, leaping off in the distance._

_The MS watched him go for several seconds, as another A-Corp member approached him._

"_Lieutenant, the men are somewhat concerned, considering the nature..."_

"_Tell the men I've been doing what I've been doing since they sent us into this hellhole." The MS said as he closed up his faceplate. "I'm adapting."

* * *

_"So, you want to market this Tafebeno, but you don't want endless delays. And you need a smokescreen if someone decides to sniff around. So you go down to your little testing ground. Hey, you've used it before. Got a decent indigestion medicine out of it, even, a few years back. But people probably won't be so comfortable swallowing an artificial life form that according to test results absorbs excess food material. I mean, you can do the same thing with a tapeworm, and UGH!" Danny said. "So you did what your kinds do best. You obscured the issue."

More paperwork.

"Lawyers would have trouble reading that. Something I'm sure you counted on. But what it comes down to is that you mislead the populace. You told them you were testing a pill for stress, and that some weight loss might be a side effect. And hey, everyone has stress these days, right? Oh yes, and the cash incentive probably helped as well. Anyone could always use a few extra bucks." Danny said. "So you got lots of takers. Thousands, in fact. During the end of June. And everything seemed fine...mainly because of the timing. The timing which dropped a giant hammer on all the poor bastards you tricked into taking your would-be diet aid under false pretenses."

Still more papers.

"Because in your haste to market it, you didn't test the product as thoroughly as you could have. You were hoping the unofficial Romero case study would demonstrate to the less ethical people in power that everything would be fine. Apparently the world has fewer Frances Oldham Kelley's these days." Danny said. "Oh, I have holes in my information. Maybe I'm coming at this from the wrong angle. But I definitely know this: you didn't test what happens when the product ingests _Sinapis alba_."

Even more paper. The stack in front of Thaddeus was getting rather thick: how Danny kept all those papers straight in his jacket was a mystery.

"See, the problem with artificial life is that, bred in a laboratory, you can't be sure how natural life will interact with it. There are well known demonstrations of what happens when you introduce natural species into areas they weren't before...and the disasters that followed. Artificial life is even more of a crapshoot." Danny said. "Remember I mentioned tapeworms? Well, when your product ingests _Sinapis alba_, it begins to act like another kind of worm. _Baylisascaris_, to be precise, a family of roundworms. More specifically, it begins to act as _Baylisascaris_ do if they're not in their proper hosts, of which humans are not. Should _Baylisascaris _end up in such an improper host, it will break through the cell walls of the digestive organs and enter the bloodstream, entering various organs as they try and find a new home, and potentially doing a great deal of damage in the process. And one of the primary places _Baylisascaris _in humans has been known to enter is the central nervous system. The brain included. In the case of _Baylisascaris_, certain kinds of brain damage have been recorded."

Danny's calm glower suddenly increased in intensity.

"Your product managed to create a brand new one."

* * *

_They were everywhere, snarling and stalking the streets below the buildings Danny was leaping off of, the once nice-town of Romero turned into an apocalyptic wasteland as the A.I.S, the Savages, roamed the streets. That was the source of all the smoke that had blocked off Tucker's attempted scans, as the transform of the people into their current state and the chaos that had resulted had set over half of the primary town on fire. Now there were no more people to attack. Just Savages._

_Which begged the question: why weren't they attacking each other? Danny had no answer to that: according to the data he'd been given and collected himself, there should have been no way the Savages could tell each other apart. They should have been as willing to destroy each other as the non-infected. And yet they didn't._

_It was questions like that took Danny's life from "hard" to "a gigantic pain in the ass", and hence he tended not to dwell on them, as he spotted a suitable target: a 10+ story tall office building. It would serve._

_Summoning a quick surge of power, Danny leapt and actually sprinted up the side of the building before leaping on the roof. There were no Savages on it. Good. Danny checked: one entrance and exit. Even better._

"_...yeah I know, I don't know if this will work either." Danny said. "But better then fighting down in the streets."_

_And Danny held the Magnus in front of him and focused._

_Normally, he used this power to attract animals. Human beings, with their conscious', tended not to feel it._

_But Danny had a feeling there wasn't much left involving conscious in the Savages below._

_And he was right._

_The yells and snarls reached his ears from below, and Danny, peering over the roof, could see that the flow had shifted, all directing towards the building he was in. The Savages would all coming running at Danny's call, trying to get up and attack the strange figure that emitted the alluring essence, and the stairs would force them into a bottleneck._

_And as for the rest, Danny had it covered, as his blade ignited with the red Absolute energy...shot through with another, yellow energy. It lessened the effect of the nerve-destroying power somewhat, but the usefulness of the new energy was in its name._

_Kickback._

_As the first Savage burst from the rooftop stairway and charged at Danny._

_Had Danny swung normally, he might not have even knocked the Savage down._

_With Kickback activated, the Savage flew into the air like Danny had hit him with a wrecking ball, screaming as the residual Absolute energy burned through him, even as he fell off the roof._

_As more Savages broke out from the door._

_And went sailing off into the air as Danny slashed them as well._

_More came. Danny's eyes narrowed in focus._

"_You're gonna go hungry."_

_And as Danny slashed and tore through the constant stream of attackers he'd summoned, he realized that not only did his taunt not matter because these creatures didn't eat brains, but that he'd inadvertently insulted himself.

* * *

_"I'm not quite sure how to describe it." Danny said. "A kind of twisted, dark...mirror of the survival instinct? To survive, people have to take life...but they also have to give it. But when your product mutated, entered the bloodstream, and ended up in the brain, it proceeded to somehow...rewrite all that. Eat through the brain until all said brain cared about was survival through death. Like taking life...allowed their life to continue. I think that's how their madness seemed to them...and why some of them were just ripping apart the bodies they'd killed without actually ingesting any part of them. I don't know. As I think I said before, I still have unanswered questions." Danny said. "But that's what happened when your product, Tafebeno, ingested _Sinapis alba._ Or in English, the white mustard plant. Whose seeds, strangely, is mostly used to make what we consider normal, yellow mustard."

Thaddeus stared.

"Your testing period started in late June. If you'd done it a month, a week earlier, you might have caught it early. But you did it just before July 4th." Danny said. "Romero had a big celebration that day. You know what people like to do during Independence Day celebrations? Barbecue Do you know what a lot of people like to barbecue? Hot dogs and hamburgers. Do you know what a lot of people like to put on their barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers? Mustard."

Danny's finger stabbed at the pile of papers.

"Your oversight into the nature of your own product and your cynical "study" ensured that you didn't get a Patient Zero, or isolated pockets of this reaction. You ensured that roughly 60 PERCENT of the Romero population all turned, over the next few days, into monsters."

Danny's glower increased even more.

"But the worst part is...that's _not_ the worst part."

* * *

_There were times, when he was feeling low, that Danny wondered if he was just a cog in a machine._

_He certainly felt like one now, as he stood on that roof and slashed and slashed and slashed, cutting down Savage after Savage, over and over. No wonder those horror films always had such long odds. When the odds were stacked in the hero's favor, things became repetitive and dull. It was amazing when the survival against legions of murderous creatures was reduced to a mere chore...but that was just another tick on the list on how Danny hadn't expected his life to turn out._

_He slashed away a few more, feeling the faint tinge of weariness beginning to settle in his arms. How long had he been doing this? He'd lost all track of time..._

"_Danny!" The voice crackled in his ear. Valerie._

"_Can't talk, hell, no room, you know." Danny said, as he took down some more Savages._

"_Danny it's...!"_

_And then a loud scramble of noise canceled out Valerie's voice, as Danny's eyes narrowed. Interference...?_

_And then it happened._

_Danny was never quite sure what. He later theorized all the Savages pouring into the building had broken something, a gas main or something similar._

_Or maybe something else entirely and all too purposeful. They could have flown an entire wing of planes by Danny and he wouldn't have noticed in his focus._

_As the bottom of his "stand" building abruptly exploded._

_Danny's eyes widened, and then he threw up a shield as he ran over to the corner of the roof he was on and looked down..._

_As the lower floors exploded upward, and Danny abruptly found the building's stability completely removed._

_And he wasn't so good at flying when he had the Magnus in hand. And he really didn't have time to switch._

"_Oh no." Danny said, as the building began to fall. _

_And unable to think of a proper swear word, he made one up. Or remembered a made up one. He couldn't recall. _

"_COPPLEBUTT!"_

_And the building collapsed, taking Danny Phantasm down with it.

* * *

_"...That might have been an accident." Danny said quietly. "Maybe. But there was no accident in regards to what happened next. I know."

And Danny laid the final paper down.

* * *

_Coughing, Danny stumbled through the smoke and wreckage, trying to clear his eyes. It took more then a falling building to take him down..._

_But that wasn't the problem._

_It was why he climbed on top of the building to begin with that was the problem._

_As they came for him, charging through the smoke, the Savages. Danny slashed through them, his sword burning with Absolute energy again, but more came, and more. He was rapidly becoming surrounded._

_But as badly as he was outnumbered he was never outgunned, as he tore through the Savages in a bloody frenzy, trying to get clear for a moment..._

"_DANNY WHERE ARE YOU!" Valerie yelled, making her return by screaming into his ear._

"_BUSY!" Danny yelled back._

"_DANNY THEY'RE KILLING THE SURVIVORS!"_

"_What?" Danny said in confusion, as he backflipped and fired a blast into the ground, briefly scattering the Savages before they returned with twice their number._

"_THE SOLDIERS! THEY'RE SHOOTING THEM!"_

_And Danny's heart went as cold as ice._

_As an old voice piped up in the back of his head and told him that chances were, he'd been manipulated again. Just like old times._

"_NO! DON'T LET...!"_

_And then they were on him, seizing on his moment of distraction to crush him beneath their numbers, as Danny disappeared with a scream into a tide of ripping, consuming death.

* * *

_"I spoke with one of them, briefly." Danny said quietly. "He seemed like a decent man. I found him dead later...of a gunshot wound. I suspect it was going to be called friendly fire. Nothing friendly about it though. I think maybe, in the end...he got an order even he couldn't carry out. Not that it mattered, as you certainly knew just who to give such an order to."

"Despite your attempts to link me to this tragedy, I insist I know nothing..."

"THAT'S YOUR SIGNATURE." Danny said, once again stabbing his finger on the top piece of paper. "YOU sent the Alexander Corps in once your product went bad in such a spectacular fashion. Not only that, you EQUIPPED them. And you had a reason for that: when you realized just how messy it was, you signed off on the final order. No witnesses. And the Alexander Corps carried it out. Or rather, they tried."

Danny leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.

"I shouldn't be here. You should be in jail under a massive pile of charges. But you're not." Danny said. "Because that special armor, that one of your other companies, A-Next or whatever, that was given to the Alexander Corps? There weren't just fatal electrical discharge devices around the town. They were in the armor as well. And once my team got in the way of your slaughter, you decided to make absolutely sure and signed off on them as well. At least that order you were smart enough not to put on paper. And that was that: they died in mid-battle. With the mercenaries dead and your "accident" dealt with, all you had was a bunch of near-mindless survivors who were taken in when the government got properly involved."

Danny shook his head.

"I don't blame them, really, for covering it up. Even they aren't really sure what went down. The media was fed the story of a terrorist attack. Considering someone burned the whole town down...well, why not? Sounds like something they'd do. A great tragedy. And it is. But not for the reasons that have been presented." Danny said. "People deserve to know what happened. The truth. But the problem is, there's so much muck involved that hardly anyone knows what the truth is. All they have are fragments, and people don't need that. Fragments get mixed in with a bunch of speculation and theory, if not outright lies, and that causes mass panic. Panic doesn't help anyone They need the proper truth, from the source. They deserve to know what happened. I can't tell them."

Danny briefly looked sad,

"I don't officially exist."

* * *

_As blue light suddenly streamed from beneath the killing mass..._

_And then the Savages were tossed aside like insects, as Danny screamed and unleashed the full power of the Magnus, carving through the masses like they weren't even there. The problem Valerie had told him had completely faded from his mind. All that consumed him was the need to kill, to strike down the enemy._

_Blood sprayed. Organs flew. Limbs broke, shattered, burned, bled. Death filled the air, matching any carnage the poor unfortunate victims of Tafebeno could have caused._

_That was the problem with unlocking the Magnus in desperation._

_You lost yourself to it._

_You became, in a sense..._

_A savage.

* * *

_And Thaddeus Quisling leaned back, looking at Danny...and then he picked up the stack of papers, as he began to glance through them.

"So...you want me to do what?"

"Admit your culpability in this tragedy." Danny said quietly. "The world deserves the truth, and those who died deserve justice."

"Justice you say..." Thaddeus said, as he continued to look through the papers. He did that for a few minutes, as Danny watched.

"...these are not the originals." Thaddeus finally said.

"It would be a problem getting those." Danny said. "Considering you had them all shredded and burned."

"...well, if that was the case, how do you have these papers?"

"I know some people." Danny said. "Including a certain...writer. In exchange for keeping him abreast of a few things...let's just say he can call upon the ghost of what has been written and remake it."

"So, these are replicas. Copies." Thaddeus said. "Which you very well could have completely made up."

"Do you really think you can make me think they're fakes?"

"You? No." Thaddeus said as he put the papers down. "But the legal system?"

Danny stared.

"My company has more lawyers on retainer then the population of some small towns. With that, and other aspects of the system...even if you could bring this to trial, it would take YEARS. And believe me, people will have long lost interest in the truth or justice before then. They'll probably be occupying themselves with the latest gossip of which star is screwing who, or some insipid reality show or whatever's come along to replace them. But in the end, they'll stop paying attention long before anything gets done." Thaddeus said, as he organized the papers and handed them back to Danny. "But if this is all you have as evidence, I doubt it will even get there."

"...you underestimate me."

"Not really. Besides this hearsay, what else do you have? My words?" Thaddeus said. "No, unfortunately. A man must make sure his secrets are kept sometimes. You're not the only one capable of communication manipulation. When it was clear you wanted to talk at me for a bit, I activated certain bafflers that are concealed in the walls. Normally they're used to make sure people can't listen in on cell phones and whatnot, but it works for any communication device. Including any listening devices you may have on you. All you and I have said was only heard by us. So once again, all you have is hearsay. And I can handle hearsay. As you can see, I'm quite good with problems."

"...so maybe I should just stab you right now." Danny said.

"You won't." Thaddeus said. "Like you said kid. You did the talking. If you wanted me dead, you'd have done it by now. You haven't. I know why. It's just not in you."

Danny looked at Thaddeus Quisling, as his eyes briefly flashed green. Thaddeus ignored it, as he reached under his desk and took out a shot glass and some scotch, pouring some into said glass.

"Do you have anything else you wish to discuss, or have you wasted enough of my time today?"

"...you...really don't care, do you?" Danny said. "You forced a product through, and when it backfired in the worst of ways you sent in a bunch of people to clean it up and act like it didn't exist. People DIED. THOUSANDS of them."

"And people died in the Twin Towers. And in the Holocaust. And in the slave trade. The difference is that I didn't intend for anyone to die. I merely acted out of necessity when a problem arose. And I solved it. Simple as that." Thaddeus said.

Danny stared incredulously.

"...look kid, let me fill you in on something." Thaddeus said. "I'm not the abnormal one here. You are."

"...what?"

"I know your type. The hero, the savior, battling evil and righting wrongs. Standing up for the little guy. Give a hoot, don't pollute, and all that." Thaddeus said. "...you think people like you for it? They don't."

Danny stared again.

"People don't like heroes. They like ease. There's two kinds of people in the world, always have been. Those that lead and those that follow. Your kind just thinks they lead. What they really do is run up ahead of everyone and make a big spectacle of it. And people look at that, and see the path you walk, and they realize they could do that, hell they should be doing it...but they don't want to. It's too hard. Too much damn effort. You think they put you on pedestals because they want to look up at you. No. They do it because they want to make sure they can look ahead without seeing you leave them in the dust. Deep down, people hate you kid. You make them realize what they are. Small, nothing, and that way because in the end, they like it."

Thaddeus sipped at his scotch.

"It's people like me they really like. We lay down the roads they can walk on. Simple. Oh you can leave them, but why bother? That's what those stupid heroes are for. And they're a pain in the ass, with all their altruism and nobility, all their caring. Caring about others...so hard. Better to just care for yourself. And the easier we make it, the more they appreciate us for it." Thaddeus said. "You're an aberration, kid. A snarl in the system. People don't want truth and justice. They want things simple and they want their needs tended to. Like my product. And so many others. And as long as you do that, they'll just keep walking the path, and ignoring all others. That's the way the world works kid. It's why people like me were running it centuries before you were born, and will be doing so long after you die. We're the norm. You're the mistake."

Danny said nothing, as he kept staring.

"I got here by following that path. By learning how to fix my problems as I saw fit. You seem to act like I'm somehow divorced from humanity by my choices and viewpoints. But like I said kid. I _am_ humanity. And you...you're just a failed experiment at something else. Just like those people in Romero."

And Thaddeus drank deeply from his scotch and put the glass back down.

As he said himself, he didn't consider himself a bad man.

But there was a reason that if you attempted to psychologically profile a corporation as you would a person, you came up with a psychopath.

"So kindly just leave and quit wasting my time."

And strangely...Danny chuckled.

"Quite the argument you make there." Danny said, as he reached out and took the papers back. "You know, considering all I've found out, with all the dead ends and diversions, I wasn't expecting much when I came in here. But you exceeded my expectations. Even with that old argument. But hey, the old are the best. You've got the world all figured out."

And with the papers tucked back into his coat, Danny reached out and took his sword.

"_THIS _world anyway."

And black mist began to leak from Danny's sword, and for the first time Thaddeus' eyes showed a flicker of concern.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh that's the thing. I've done my part." Danny said as he stood up, as the black mist began to increasingly pour from the blade, Thaddeus getting up out of his chair to get away from it. "I just had to present you with what you'd done, and see what you decided. And since you've made your decision, I now have to direct you to the _proper_ personas to make your oh-so-truthful argument against."

"What are you doing! WHAT IS THAT!" Thaddeus yelled.

"Your failed experiment. Or rather, all the souls of the people your actions got killed. Normally they'd cross over to whatever they'd earned...but I'm a weird magnet of sorts. They were drawn to me for justice. And I said I'd get them it. One way or another." Danny said, as he looked at Thaddeus coldly. "Like I said, you've got THIS world all figured out. But there are other worlds beside that. And I walk in them as well."

And Danny turned to leave, as the room's temperature began to drop, and angry whispers and cries began to echo across it, as Thaddeus stared in horror at the essence coming from the Magnus.

"No wait! WAIT, WAIT!"

"Sorry. I'm not the one you need to talk to. But hey, you said it. You're humanity. You were just doing what comes natural to you." Danny called over his shoulder. "But they're not human any more. So I can't really say what comes natural to them. Me, I'm going to go and keep being my usual aberrant self."

"WAIT! NO! YOU CAN'T...NO! PLEASE!!!!" Thaddeus screamed, as the mist finished emerging from the Magnus, as the sword floated up and flew across the room through the doors as Danny crossed through as well.

And the doors slammed shut.

"I never did like being around during violent arguments." Danny said, and slid the sword back in its sheath.

* * *

_They'd forgotten Danny, briefly, in their attempt to stop the A-Corps from slaughtering the survivors. By the time all the drama had gone down with that battle and the aftermath involving silencing electrical devices, they'd finally realized he might be in trouble himself._

_But as they crossed the streets, and its mountains of corpses, they began to consider that maybe they were worried about Danny for the wrong reasons._

_Valerie found him first, a sole standing figure among the legions of dead, his outfit ripped to shreds, his body covered in blood and worse, and his eyes staring straight ahead in a weird zen-ish focus, the gore-caked Magnus clutched in one hand._

"_Danny?" Valerie asked._

_And Danny came back to his senses, as he looked at Valerie, and the others coming up behind her (oh geez they were filming again, with a shoulder mounted mini-cam, Danny hated that process, he didn't like re-living past battles). Seeing their concern._

_And also their fear._

_Of him._

_And that, as far as Danny was concerned, was the last straw. There would be a great deal of hard work ahead, attempting to trace the origins of this, when so much of the system was so screwed up, usually by the elements that caused things like this._

_Danny didn't care._

_It was one thing to fear the monsters._

_But it was another for them to fear him because of them._

"_...this will not stand."

* * *

_And it hadn't, as Danny exited through the front doors of River Dynamics. He wasn't concerned with what he'd left behind. They'd wanted one thing, and Danny had given it to them. If they sought more...he'd deal with it.

Valerie was standing nearby, dressed in street clothes, waiting for him. He nodded to her as she stood up, and that was all the answer she needed for what had went down.

"You know, during the initial days of the Great Depression, a lot of businessmen, upon being confronted with their failings, threw themselves out a window." Valerie said.

"I think Mr. Quisling is wishing right about now he got off so easy." Danny replied, and walked off.

* * *

_**Ambition is human...**_

_As Danny's ears caught something he thought he'd heard the last of, and he whirled around...as more Savages came. Some still remained. More souls he had to free. To bring justice to._

_But then again...that was what he did._

_The Absolute energy ignited anew on his sword._

"_Let's get to work." Danny said, as his fellows pulled out their own weapons, the camera crashing down to the ground as the Savages approached._

_And his sword slashed out._

_**Sometimes, though, the question is...what is human?**_

_**End file.**_

CLICK!

* * *

_*Roll credits, as footage plays under it of the camera being kicked and knocked around, showing crazy flashes of Savages and the Ghost of a Chance crew battling them to Disturbed "Down With The Sickness"*

* * *

_

See you around.

Perhaps.


	5. Halloween 2009: HateKillRepeat

_**A Horror Story 5: Hate/Kill/Repeat**_

_Did you really skip to this chapter without knowing the score? If so, forget it, you can be confused! Oh yeah, this year's story is also rated M, for language. Just in case you'd want to know._

* * *

**Minus 00:00:13 and counting…**

The cold water flowed from Danny's face as he slowly lifted himself up from the water. He stared dully down at his faint reflection, watching water and greenish blood drip down onto his visage.

He wished for a moment he could be his reflection. His reflection looked normal. It didn't show the wound that had bisected his lips, nor the swelling that had begun to close his left eye. Maybe his reflection lived in a world where there was still sense.

Danny didn't want to believe he'd left that world. For all he'd seen and experienced since that day when he'd stepped into his parents' machine, he'd tried to think that his world had some inherent line that could be stomped on, kicked, and scrambled, but would remain regardless.

He really didn't know any more. Not with why he was here, on the banks of this river. He felt mud squelch under his legs and hands as he tried to get up. He heard a faint, female voice, calling out to him.

He heard the slow, thundering footsteps.

The large, powerful hand seized his hair.

* * *

_**I spend a fair bit of time of the Internet. There's a lot of great time-sinks out there. One of them is a little website called TV Tropes. A trope is an aspect of fiction, a device used to move the plot forward. Essentially the good version of a cliché: a trope is a plot element, a cliché is an overused plot element. It started as a recording of tropes used in television, hence the name: eventually it expanded to cover tropes used in just about any and all fiction. Including when these story elements mirrored aspects of real life stories.**_

_**There's one trope that sticks with me. It was dubbed The Determinator (though that name may change, it's happened before). In essence, it describes someone or something that simply will not stop. As the trope itself puts it:**_

"_**There is no stopping the Determinator. He does not understand patience. He does not Know When To Fold 'Em. No one can reason with him. No price is too great to pay for success, up to and including his own life (and others'). He'll do whatever he has to do. Do not expect him to consider he might be better off letting it go, even if he can barely stand. Giving up is just not in his nature."**_

_**I would think I know more about this then the average person. And not just because of who my best friend is.**_

_**In a way, a ghost is all about this concept. For many, when you die, that's it. For many of our allies, enemies, and acquaintances, death wasn't enough to stop them. Either they continued on, or an aspect of them did.**_

_**I'd like to say that negative emotions were not the primary reason for their return, but too many times it was. Anger, revenge, hate…far more often that brought someone back from the supposed end then anything noble.**_

_**Once you're back though, you can go two ways. You can evolve past what kept you going…or devolve into a hideous THING whose original goals, if you had any to begin with, have long been buried under an overwhelming compulsion to do harm. Whenever that factor comes up, I always think of Ted Bundy, who started out a charming, careful psychopath who targeted young women almost to a hitman-like degree of control and ended up butchering his final, teenage victim like an animal, his mind having finally become little more than a slave to his killing urges.**_

_**And I think of Sizzle. But the less said about her the better.**_

_**Fortunately, not all people can accomplish the seemingly impossible due to their dark side surviving beyond death. Danny's living proof of that.**_

_**But there are more of them then him.**_

_**Some have determination that might even surpass his own.**_

_**Even if you think you'd never see anything like them.

* * *

**_

**Minus 0:13:31 and counting…**

"Almost there." Danny said, a few seconds before he landed on the isolated wood road. He heard a faint fumbling noise in his personal communicator: apparently someone was picking up a headset to join in.

"Okay, just what is it that happened? That's so important it couldn't wait until morning and dragged Danny out of bed?"

"We have a Fissure." Danny said, stopping as he looked down the road. To the human eye, it would appear everything was normal.

Until they got close enough to see 'the crack in the world' and the throbbing energies that lay within it. If you were that close though, it was probably already too late.

"All right…any problems?"

"Out here…no." Danny said, looking around. "Flare's not sensing any disturbances in the woods."

"How about in the Force?" Tucker joked.

"Quiet nerdlinger. This is serious. If nothing came out, why is Danny getting dragged into it?"

"Because when I was investigating local reports in the area surrounding the Fissure, I found something, young lady."

"What?"

"There was a group of kids who were heading off to spend a weekend camping. They were reporting missing yesterday. They never showed up at their destination, they can't be contacted…and the last place they were seen, a gas station, and where they were supposed to go…there's a strong chance they went THROUGH the Fissure."

"…oh."

"Mom? It's Danny. The Fissure's stable." Danny said. "I'm going after them."

"Wait Danny. That's dangerous, even for you. We don't have any idea where that hole leads. You need to wait for…"

"I can't wait. I have to know if the kids went across. If they're still alive."

"Danny, even if the kids didn't emerge into something that would kill them instantly, crossing a void-passage without proper protection is taxing at best. We'd also be completely out of contact with you. You can't just jump back and forth either. You need to…"

"No mom. I'm going. I have to know. If they can be saved, I'm going to save them. They didn't deserve this."

"…please Danny."

"I know Mom." Danny said quietly. "I have to. Please understand that."

"…please be careful."

"I will." Danny said. "I'm going guys. Get yourselves down here ASAP. I don't know when I'll be back and in what state."

Famous last words.

* * *

**Minus 53:22:49 and counting…**

"_Okay…so explain this to me again." Jess Crespo said as the large SUV drove along the road through the forests in New Jersey. "Marshall wanted to go camping."_

"_That's right." Benny Wright replied._

"_So he arranged for us all to go camping on this island he picked out."_

"_Yeah…?"_

"_Then Marshall gets sick with measles from one of his cousins and can't make it."_

"_Yeah."_

"_So why are we still going camping?"_

"_Marshall went to all the trouble of arranging it. Would seem rude not to go." Thomas Mead said._

"_No, you just want to go so you can drink your Jack Daniels without your parents finding out." Jess said._

"_Touche." Thomas replied, taking a swig from a bottle of said alcohol. Danni Belmont looked in mild disapproval._

"_Hey relax Danni. I can control myself. If I can't, have your boyfriend beat me up."_

"_He wouldn't do that!" Danni blurted out, before looking embarrassed. Said boyfriend, Andrew Peters, gave Thomas a dirty look. Thomas just shrugged and had more Jack Daniels._

"_At least he's not driving." Andrew said.  
"So…we're going camping because someone else can't go camping." Maria Gunn said._

"_Precisely." Jess said._

"_Meh." Maria said, and shoved the dozing form of Jon Katz off her. Jon simply adjusted himself and resumed sleeping, not even disturbed._

"_God. Is he ever NOT sleeping?" The last teenager, Brenna Spellings, said._

"_Not really, no." Thomas said. "Are we there yet?"_

"_Not much further according to the GPS." Benny said. "I hope no one has to go to the bathroom because you could have gone back at the gas station."_

"_That attendant was creepy." Brenna said._

"_Creepy as in a little unhygienic, or creepy as in dah dah ner ner ner ner ner NUHHHHHH…?" Benny said, glancing back from his driving as he hummed the famous Deliverance theme._

"_No, I think he had a little trouble with his eye, there was…"_

"_What's that?" Jess said, pointing._

"_What's wha-?" Benny said, turning back around._

_The light exploded in Benny's vision, filling the SUV. Alarmed yells and screams came from the various teenagers, which increased in volume as the van suddenly felt like it was in a washing machine. A howling roar filled Benny's ears as he tried to find anything resembling control._

_Then it was over, as Benny's head abruptly banged into the steering wheel. Strangely, the horn did not sound, as the teenagers in the van went silent save for a few whimpers and cries._

"…_did something just happen?" Jon said sleepily.

* * *

_

**Minus 52:47:12 and counting…**

"_The van's toast." Jess said, dropping the hood of the SUV. "Whatever happened kicked it in the teeth but good. I'm amazed it was able to make it all the way here."_

"_Yeah…now where's here?" Jon said._

"_I don't know. The GPS is fried. So are all our cell phones." Benny said, looking at the nearby lake and the cabins positioned around and near it. "I'd hazard a guess and say we're at some sort of summer camp."_

"_That's nice. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?" Brenna yelled. "Did we drive into the fucking Twilight Zone?!"_

"_Brenna, your language." Andrew said._

"_WHO GIVES A FUCK!?"_

"_Calm down." Maria said. _

"_She's right. Let's keep calm here." Benny said. "We're not on Mars. We're not going to help each other by panicking."_

"_So what do we do?" Jon asked._

"…_well, first we should check around. See if we can find someone. At least a phone." Benny said.

* * *

_

**Minus 51:22:51 and counting…**

"_Okay, I will admit this is damn freaky." Benny said, the group gathered around the van. A search of what had been confirmed as a summer camp had just turned up a lot of mysteries. The camp was completely abandoned, and none of the located phones worked. From what Benny could tell, the place had been empty for some time. Most surfaces were covered with a thick layer of dust, anything perishable was in various stages of rotting, and there were no marks indicating recent comings or goings when it came to vehicles._

"_What are we going to do?" Danni asked._

"_Okay…all right." Benny said. "First thing to do is figure out where we are. Without the GPS and a phone…okay maybe that can wait. We have enough food to last us about ten days or so. Night's coming. I say we bunker down in one of the cabins. Maybe do another sweep, make sure there isn't anything we can pick up around here. Matches, lanterns, the like. Tomorrow, we'll look around and try and find someone."_

"_I don't like this place." Danni said._

"_I know. It's weird. But we're still in America as far as I know. An odd…pocket of America, but still there."_

"_I'd just like to say that if we find food and it has hardly any taste, we should be concerned." Jess said. Jon smacked him over the head. "Ow! What was that for!"_

"_Because I didn't understand it."

* * *

_

**Minus 45:58:10 and counting…**

"_So what do you think happened to us?" Maria said. The group sat around the campfire: without electricity, they'd had to resort to the older method to cook their food. Jon dozed in a sleeping bag nearby, the only one apparently unconcerned about their trouble._

"_I don't know…ball lightning?" Benny said. "I just saw a big flash."_

"_It felt like we were being tossed end over end." Maria said._

"_Yeah, but we were back on the road afterward. Not upside down in a crumpled tin can. Which is a lot worse off." Andrew said._

"_Speak for yourself. I lost my Jacks." Thomas grumped._

"_I'll buy you a bottle when I know mutant Tribbles from hell won't eat my face off." Jess said, poking at the fire with a stick. "So, are we going to have someone keep watch, or something?"_

"_Probably not a bad idea. Let's draw straws…"

* * *

_

**Minus 24:29:39 and counting…**

"_You must be joking." Maria said. She, Andrew, Jon, Brenna, and Danni had stayed in the cabin while Benny, Thomas, and Jess had gone to look for people. They had not returned with good news._

"_I wish I was." Benny said. The group had spent several hours that day, not counting rests, looking around the lake and up and down the nearby road. They had discovered more cabins and residences, numbering around 20._

_Not a single person had been found in any of them. Some of the houses and cabins had been empty, with FOR SALE signs in front of them. The rest had been abandoned, in the same state of dusty disuse the summer camp was. None of the houses had cars. That was bad enough. But none of the houses had power either, and none of the phones worked. The group had even tried to fiddle with some of the fuse boxes, without luck. Whatever had cut off this area from the world ran deeper from that._

"_So what does it mean?" Danni said, eyes wide._

"…_well…uh…" Benny said._

"_We discussed this on the way. The rational answer is that there was some sort of toxin leak nearby that required an extended evacuation." Jess said._

_Danni looked like she wanted to pass out._

"…_no. Some of us would have gotten sick. I don't think that's what it is." Maria said._

"_Yeah, also an extended evacuation doesn't explain why the power is just gone…but still." Jess said._

"_So what is it then?"_

"…_Okay. This is…we pretty much have to assume that we're alone right now, and that anyone we meet isn't friendly. This was civilization at one point, but it isn't now. We need to figure out where the next big settlement is and make our way there." Benny said._

"_Now?" Andrew said._

"…_no, it's getting late. We'll camp here again, tonight….weapons. Did anyone find anything that could be used as a weapon?"_

"_Whoa, do you really think we'll need weapons Ben?" Thomas asked._

"_This is weird, guys. Better to have and not need them than to need and not have them…where's Brenna?" Benny said._

"…_she said she was going to use the bathroom."_

"…_shit." Benny said, looking around before finding a broom and picking it up. "Stay here…wait wait no, bad idea. All of you come with me. We're not going…"_

_The door opened._

"_Oh you're back-AHHHHHHHH!" Brenna said as Benny began raising the broom. "What the hell is your problem!"_

"_Sorry, thought you were a slasher."_

"_A what?"_

"_Never mind. Sit down Brenna, it's not good news."

* * *

_

**Minus 22:02:25 and counting…**

"_So what did you do today?" Jess asked the group as they sat around the campfire. It was notable that this time he, Thomas, Benny, Maria, and Andrew all had improvised weapons this time, though Jon was again sleeping in his sleeping bag._

"_We looked around some more. Didn't really find anything new. A calendar, but it's three years out of date." Maria said. "Didn't find any edible food, even cans. We tried fiddling with the SUV some more, but none of us really know what we're doing. Didn't work. Besides that, nothing happened."_

"_Let's hope it stays that way." Benny said, sitting with his broom in his lap, having consigned the bristles to the fire a while back. "I've done some more thinking. Running off together tomorrow is probably a bad idea. We have no idea where anything else, we could easily get lost, wander around in circles, and end up in an even worse predicament. My idea is to go back to the homes we searched yesterday and look for maps. If we can find maps, we can have some idea where we are, and how to reach civilization. If not…well, let's not find the maps first."_

"_What if we go to a city and it's abandoned too?" Danni asked._

"_Then it's the zombie-apocalypse and we have to restart civilization. Since Andrew is the only one of us who actually has a girl, I call God-emperor!"_

"_Hell no, you got to be god-emperor last time." Jess said._

"_Too bad, I called dibs."_

'_That still doesn't explain what happened on the road. Or help us if it was a toxin." Maria said._

"_Shut up and eat your smores Gunn."_

"_I will." Maria said matter of factly, and did so._

"_Remind me when we get home to kick Marshall's ass for sending us out here." Brenna said._

"_I call dibs."_

"_You can't call dibs!"_

"_AS GOD EMPEROR ALL MY WORDS AUTOMATICALLY CARRY THE DIBS! SO SPEAKS GOD-EMPEROR BENNY!"_

"_I miss my Jacks." Thomas said.

* * *

_

**Minus 00:22:04 and counting…**

"_Nice work guys." Maria said, looking over the maps that Benny, Andrew, and Danni were pouring over. It had been another long, exhausting day searching the surrounding areas, even for the group that had been left behind. Tension could use up energy as much as effort. But their choices finally bore fruit, and the group sitting around the fire was feeling pretty good despite all that had happened. The fact none of them had gotten sick or been attacked by zombies had helped._

"_As far as I can tell, we're roughly around here." Benny said, pointing at a map. "This camp isn't on the map for some reason. Probably too small. Heck, it doesn't even have a sign, or someone stole it when it closed or something….anyway, it appears the nearest town is a place called Forest Green. It's about 40 miles away…so maybe three days walk. Barring we don't see a car."_

"_Or have to drag Jon." Brenna said. Jon was, as usual, asleep in his sleeping bag._

"_Forest Green? That sounds familiar…" Jess said._

"_Did we pass it on the way?" Andrew asked._

"_I don't remember that." Maria said. "So, we're heading off tomorrow?"_

"_Probably best. Our food isn't going to last us forever." Benny said. "No matter what Thomas finds."_

"_You just don't appreciate the finer things in life." Thomas said, walking up with the fresh bottle of Jack Daniels' liquor he had turned up in the day's search. Not wanting to drink it warm, he had used the lake as a makeshift fridge, as the camp lacked electricity._

"_Actually I do, that's why I don't touch that stuff." Andrew said._

"_Please don't get drunk Tom." Danni added._

"_Don't worry, I can control myself." Thomas said, removing the cap and drinking. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh…life may be utterly terrifying as the norm as of now, but at the moment, it is good."_

"_You boys ARE going to bring the tents and stuff when we go right? I don't want to squat in an abandoned house." Brenna said._

"_Why not?" Jess said._

"_I dunno. It's…rude."_

"_It's only rude is you…wait how is it rude? No one lives there! We'd be doing the house a favor!" Jess said._

"_Great. So Tom is drinking Jack again, Jon is sleeping, and Jess and Brenna are arguing, You want to pull out your game books Benny and we can all be doing the things that define us?" Maria said._

"_Hey wait, since when is arguing with Brenna…"_

_Thomas interrupted the conversation with a loud burp. Everyone looked at him, as a gust of wind blew, making the fire dance._

"_Sorry. Anyone want some?" Thomas said, standing up and offering his bottle. "Come on guys, you have to indulge in a little vice every now and then…"_

_The wind stopped, and the fire resumed its normal shape._

_Casting back the shadows and revealing the massive form that now stood behind Thomas. Everyone's eyes went as wide as saucers._

"…_what?" Thomas said, and turned around._

_A giant, rotting hand reached out…and seized Thomas' liquor bottle, squeezing it between two fingers and shattering it, the alcohol within spraying all over Thomas' lower half. Thomas stared in wide-eyed shock, horror, and surprise. The way the figure had snuck up on them without a sound or a clue was only part of it. The rest was WHO IT WAS._

"…_hey!" Was all Thomas could blurt out._

_The hand lifted again…and two fingers violently poked Thomas in the chest, knocking him over and into the fire._

_Thomas' screams as he was caught ablaze partially snapped the group out of it, but for a moment they were still frozen in the surreal horror of it. It couldn't be happening. It was all a bad dream. Thomas was not rolling on the ground, all aflame and screaming, with THAT GUY HAVING PUSHED HIM…_

"…_HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!" Maria finally yelled._

_The figure lunged forward, towards Brenna._

_Grabbing the sign post behind her and ripping it free, as he turned around and plunged it into Thomas' chest. Thomas' screams cut off like a switch had been thrown, as the young man emitted one last gurgle and went still.  
"Oh dear god." Benny said, as he frantically looked around for his broom, the tire iron, a pointy stick, ANYTHING…_

_But it was too late for that. The figure had caught them at the worst time. No one had any weapons at hand._

_And he was coming._

"…_oh." Jess said._

"_RUN!!!!!!!!!!" Benny screamed, as the group scrambled backwards, Danni, Brenna, and Andrew yelling and screaming wordless sounds of horror._

"_FUCK! FUCKKKKKKKKKKK!" Maria yelled, starting to run before stopping._

_Jon. The damn sleepyhead could sleep through Armageddon._

_He'd slept through this, and the figure was coming._

"_JON!!!!!!!!!!!!"_

_Jon never knew what hit him, as the figure brought his foot down on his sleeping head. The darkness hid most of the mess, but not the sickening wet crunch._

"…_damn!" Maria said, turning and running like hell, the remaining six pretty much all alongside her._

"…_WOODS! GO FOR THE WOODS!" Benny screamed, as the group ran along the lakeside. The figure followed, slowly but surely. It had watched for some time, but eventually their colors had been exposed. Just like all the others._

_Now, once again, the blood would spill.

* * *

_

**Minus 00:07:06 and counting…**

"_Oh god…oh god…where's Maria?" Benny said, the group now lost in the woods._

"_I don't know! We lost her!" Danni said, sounding sick and miserable._

"_That can't be! This isn't happening! God! No!" Brenna gasped._

"_It is real…oh god damn it, it is real." Benny said._

"_I…HOW IS HE REAL! WHY IS HE…HOW IS-!" Jess yelled._

_Danni screamed in terror, and the group jerked around. He had found them._

"_RUN! GO GO GO!" Benny yelled, as the group took off again, their yells echoing between their ragged breathing. Benny lead the way, twisting and turning through the woods._

_Cabins in the distance._

"_..CABINS!" Benny yelled._

"_YEAH! OUT OF THE WOODS!" Jess yelled. None of the panicked teenagers knew why being in the cabins would be any better than the woods, but rationality had long since fled. It would have fled normally, but who was chasing them and the sheer IRrationality of it had put wings on its feet._

_Its feet was luckier then Danni Belmont's, as her foot plunged into a soft area and became stuck in some tree roots._

"_HELP!" Danni screamed._

"_DANNI!" Andrew yelled, turning around and running back to her. Brenna stopped so quickly she nearly fell over before running back to Danni, trying to yank her best friend's foot free with Andrew._

"_DAMMIT!" Jess yelled, as he turned and started back himself. Benny stopped and turned, but froze before he could get any further._

_The figure was too close. And now he had a weapon. Unable to move, Benny could only watch._

"_COME ON!" Andrew yelled, clawing at the root._

_The shadow fell over him. The three looked up, staring death in the face._

"**HEY ASSHOLE!"**

The figure turned as the black and white shape flew out of the forest and smashed into him with a foot. The figure was hurled through the air like a doll, flying a few dozen feet before striking a cabin and going through its side, the building partially collapsing on his body afterward.

"I don't think so." Danny Phantasm said.

"…is that a superhero?" Benny said. Andrew didn't say anything, as Danni's foot was finally free.

"…thank you." Danni said to Danny. Danny nodded.

"Danni!" Jess said, running up.

"What?" Danny and Danni both said. Confusion briefly crossed several faces.

"Oh. Weird." Danny said, before his eyes narrowed. The rubble was shifting.

Then the piece of wood was flying at him.

Danny snapped his head to the side, the makeshift projectile just missing him. His look of surprised alarm faded quickly.

"Get out of here. I'll deal with this."

"…buddy, do you know who that is?" Jess said.

"Yeah. Wish I didn't. Wish it wasn't possible. But it is."

The figure had by now fully stood up.

"Jason Voorhees." Danny said. "Run."

* * *

_**There's a theory about writing that pops up every now and then. I may have even mentioned it before and forgotten it.**_

_**The idea is that no one truly creates anything. They peer into another world, and believe it to be imagination. Everyone perceives things in a different way, so it comes out of different people different ways. Ergo, every fictional creation that was ever created really exists, somewhere.**_

_**When you're in our business, that possibility becomes more feasible.**_

_**Sometimes, though, the truth is far more then can be handled.

* * *

**_

**Minus 00:05:47 and counting…**

Jason cocked his head to the side a bit, looking at the newcomer. His previous victims began scampering off, but Jason paid them no mind. The newcomer had fought back. He'd actually fought back effectively.

He would die first.

Danny, for the most part, was trying not to feel what the dimensional crossing had taken out of him. He was also surprised to see a fictional creation in the flesh, but not exceptionally so. He lived in a very weird world. He didn't expect it to always be original.

He also hadn't expected what kicking Jason would be like. He'd moved him, but Danny would have been able to shrug off kicking a normal person. With Jason, he felt like he'd kicked a wall. His hulking form was even stronger than it seemed, and considering he was dead, that was really saying something.

Jason reached down into the rubble, pulling up the machete he'd retrieved and been unable to use on his victims. Danny snorted.

"Anything you can do…" Danny said, as he reached up and pulled out the Magnus Flareium. Jason looked at him a moment, and then pushed his way out of the rubble.

"I know." Danny said, as Jason began stalking towards him, his ragged, undeniable clothes flapping in the slight breeze and his eyes blazing intent behind his dirty white hockey mask. "I'm not going to mess around. Unlock. Go-ARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Danny collapsed with a scream, as the blue energy that had begun forming on his blade sputtered out. More had been taken out of him by the crossing then even he had thought. He couldn't unlock the Magnus' true power.

And Jason was coming, raising his machete.

Danny, however, was far from helpless.

Jason closed in in time for Danny to raise his hand and fire a blast of green energy into his weapon arm, knocking the blade away. Jason didn't even have time to react to that, as Danny leapt up and lashed out with his foot, kicking Jason under the chin as hard as he could.

He found out two things.

One, Jason still felt like a wall.

Two, he was a LOT faster than Danny would have predicted, as Jason's free hand snapped up and seized Danny's ankle in a grip of iron.

"HUH?!"

Jason swung and hurled Danny, and the Halfa yelled as he flew a dozen feet and crashed into a tree. He hit the ground, rolling back up and glaring at Jason. The undead monster cocked his head again, surprised that he hadn't left Danny a smear on the bark.

"No. Not another victim of yours. NO!" Danny yelled, lashing out with the Magnus. A green blade of energy flew from the blade and tore across Jason's side. Black ichor that may have once been blood flowed freely.

Jason's head snapped down to the wound, and then snapped back up, as he began stalking towards Danny again. Danny slashed the air again and again, more blades flying out and carving through Jason's rotting form. He didn't slow his tread in the least, as he reared up and slashed his own weapon.

Danny ducked and rolled, springing up before Jason could recover and leaping into the air. Jason turned around as Danny brought the sword down as hard as he could, the blade slashing deep into Jason's head at an angle, the sword carving down into the skull and hockey mask.

A second later Jason punched Danny so hard he cracked four ribs.

Danny flew through the forest again, his sword yanking free as he went through the air and crashed back down onto the grass beneath him. He rasped, holding his chest and looking at Jason in considerable surprise. He'd tried to cut his head clean through. Not only had he failed, he hadn't affected Jason at all. All he'd done was carve a mark on the upper right side of his trademark facial covering.

"…yeah. No kidding." Danny said, as he got up. Jason was coming again. Danny held out the sword. "No more kidding around."

Yellow energy ignited on Danny's sword. Time to draw the monster in.

"Come on you! I won't run!" Danny yelled. Jason probably didn't care what Danny had to say, as he stalked forward with his bloody blade. He got to see a rare sight: one of his victims running _towards _him.

Danny slashed with his sword. Jason swung to meet with his machete.

The impact felt like it was going to tear Danny's arms out of their sockets, but his Kickback energy did its job, as Jason found the strength of his weapon being reflected back and swinging the blade away from his center of mass, leaving him wide open.

Danny leapt back as new, red energy appeared on his sword. The energy he called the Absolute. Any contact with living things caused the Absolute power to fry their nervous system. If Jason Voorhees thought he could win a slice and dice war, he was going to get a rude surprise, as Danny plunged the blade into his chest.

Jason jerked violently, his head flying back…

And snapping forward, head butting Danny on the upper left side of his face. Danny staggered back, caught completely off-guard, and Jason backhanded him and sent him flying upward and back down through some tree branches. Danny crashed back to the ground, his head spinning from the attack.

HOW? Jason may have been dead, but his body was still moving around. Something had to move it. How did he just ignore having his nervous system attacked like that? Danny had used the offense on zombies, _they'd _gone down to it…

Jason had not, as he reached down and yanked the Magnus out. He looked at the weapon for a moment, at the strange square holes cut out of it.

Before the voice whispered in his head.

_Wretched abomination. You will fall!_

The blade flew out of Jason's hand, and he snapped his head up as it returned to Danny's grip. Energy ignited anew on the sword.

"I saw what you did, to those two people." Danny growled, as sparks of power began crackling on his body. "They didn't deserve that. NONE of them did. No more. I WILL END YOU, NOW!"

With a roar, Danny slashed the Magnus out, and green arcing energy surged out and slammed into Jason. He thrashed in its grip, his body smoking and sizzling.

Then he started walking forward again.

"ARRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Danny yelled, as he whirled around and slashed once more. Another green blade of energy flew out and carved through a nearby tree, and with a loud rumbling crack it began to fall.

How Jason slipped around it with his steady pace, Danny didn't know. He also didn't take chances.

Jason dodged the tree only to find Danny firing blades of energy everywhere, carving through tree after tree. A cloud of birds took off as the entire forest around Danny began collapsing around his ears.

Jason lunged for him.

Danny leaped straight up, kicked off a tree, and then slammed himself down on another one, dropping it right on Jason. His body was slammed to the ground, as more trees toppled over onto the original. Jason thrashed beneath his prison, trying to get free.

Danny landed at Jason's head. Jason's lone eye looked up at him.

The Magnus' pointed end slammed into Jason's forehead, as Danny put everything he had into every single bit of Absolute Energy he could unleash. Jason spasmed violently, the energy ripping him apart inside, leaving nothing intact in its wake.

Ironically, Danny shot the destructive power into Jason's corpse for roughly thirteen seconds before he finally yanked the sword out, breathing heavily.

Jason lay still, his eye closed. Danny inhaled through his nose and snorted.

"And stay down." Danny said, and ran off.

…a moment later, the eye opened again.

* * *

**Minus 00:02:00 and counting…**

"Have to leave, right now, have to leave, right now, have to leave, RIGHT NOW!" Jess said over and over by the van.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO DO?" Benny yelled, as he turned the key in the engine. Nothing happened, again. Benny knew deep down the odds of it starting were almost nothing.

"That can't be Jason Voorhees…" Andrew said, holding a terrified and crying Danni. "He doesn't exist! He's a damn movie!"

"He looked pretty damn real to me…" Brenna said. None of the teenagers were alert enough to notice the racket of the collapsing forest.

"I don't even LIKE those movies. Why couldn't we be in Star Wars?" Benny said.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING IN FICTION TO BEGIN WITH?!" Andrew yelled. "It's impossible!"

"We live in a world where men in tights beat up giant gorilla gods every other week! NOTHING is impossible! Just highly unlikely!" Jess said.

"Yeah, but I mean, we aren't going to get talking animal sidekicks or never get old or anything co-"

Danny landed several feet away with a thud. Danni, Brenna, Andrew, and Jess all yelled in surprise.

"Oh shit no…!" Benny said, turning around, expecting the worst.

"Sorry." Danny said, walking over. "You guys all right?"

"…that was Jason…" Andrew said.

"Yeah."

"He killed…"

"Yeah." Danny said, walking around the van. "What's wrong with it?"

"It won't start. It's conked out ever since…WHERE ARE WE? WHO ARE YOU?"

"Danny Phantasm." Danny said, as he pulled up the hood. "You accidentally passed through a crack in reality. Entered another world. Unfortunately, it seems that fiction is derived from said other world. Hence, Jason Voorhees."

"…another world?" Brenna said.

"Yeah. You're lucky, in a way. The vehicle protected you. If you'd gone through in a corvette, the transport process probably would have killed you before you came out the other end." Danny said. "Cooked your engine. It's useless…in a sense. I have tricks of my own."

"Yes. Lucky. That's a word." Jess said. Danny drew his sword, green energy igniting on it again before he stabbed it into the guts of the car.

A moment later, the engine rumbled to life.

"That won't last long." Danny said, pulling the sword out. "Is this all of you?"

"…we lost someone. Maria." Danni said.

"Bugger. Stay here. I'll go look for her."

"…how does stabbing an engine work?" Jess said.

"Who cares! You're leaving? What about…Jason?!" Benny said, still struggling to say the word.

"I shot him full of enough destructive energy to melt down a tank." Danny said, walking around to the back of the SUV and peering inside for weapons to give to the scared teenagers. No luck, so Danny closed it shut.

"Yeah…but it's Jason Voorhees!"

"In that case I also dropped enough wood on him to give a lumberjack a-!"

Jason's form loomed around the SUV. Even Danny never had time to react, as Jason seized him by the back of his head and rammed his face into the metal back of the SUV so hard he left an impression.

"OH SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Benny screamed, falling out of the driver's seat. The way the SUV had been parked had doomed them: the right side was facing the lake. Everyone had been on the left side, which was considered the 'main door' and hence Jason had crossed the lake and snuck up on the group without a sound just like before.

Danny Fenton thought he understood Jason Voorhees. He did not understand enough. Danny could have stood there for an hour and pumped destructive energies into Jason, it wouldn't have mattered. Jason's body no longer moved under the power of a nervous system any more.

Danni screamed as Danny slumped down to the ground.

"RUN! AGAIN! GET AWAY! RUN!" Benny screamed, as the teenagers began scampering away once more. Jason looked at them, and then looked down at Danny, who much to his surprise was trying to get up. He'd thought that would be enough.

He had a exclamation point to put on it though, raising his machete.

"…well, it's not like I wanted to LIVE LONG ANYWAY!" Jess yelled, as he ran it and hit the back of Jason's head with a tire iron as hard as he could. Any makeshift weapons hadn't been in the back of the van, because the teenagers had already taken them out. This time, they had not been left behind.

"JESS!" Benny yelled, stopping from where he'd fled with the others.

"RUN! GET AWAY! RU-!"

Jason whirled around, and his hand lanced out, burying itself in Jess' chest. Ribs snapped as he forced his way through them, and blood erupted from Jess' mouth as Jason tore through his lungs and went beyond. With a horrendously wet crunch, Jason tore a segment of Jess' spine out through the front of his chest. Jess hit the ground, his face burned into a rictus of agony and horror.

Jason dropped the piece of spinal column on the cooling corpse and turned back around.

Danny hit Jason so hard he broke two fingers. He didn't care, as Jason was carried up and came crashing back down on the ground several feet away.

"You…goddamn…bastard." Danny raged, as more energy sparked on him. He looked at Jess' body. Poor, brave boy.

Jason was just getting up. Again. Danny's emerald eyes flashed green and white, as the Magnus floated up to his hand.

"Death is too good for you." Danny snarled. "You-will-_SUFFER._ Flare. _**DO IT."**_

Danny snapped up his arm, but he didn't attack Jason with his sword. Instead he hurled it away, the sword flying above the lake. Jason stared for a moment at this, before stomping back towards Danny, machete at the ready.

This time, Danny did not move. Jason swung.

The blade passed through Danny. Without the Magnus, his intangibility powers kicked back in full force.

"Surprise."

Danny fired a twin-fisted blast of energy into Jason's chest, blowing a hole in him and knocking him back a few steps. Jason surged back with demonic energy, slashing his machete down. Danny leapt and phased through it, flipping over and smashing another energy charged fist into the back of Jason's head. He faired no better than the unfortunate Jess, as Jason spun around with incomprehensible speed and slashed again, catching Danny across the thigh, cutting through his coat in the process as Danny yelled. Snarling, Danny kicked in his also-freed-up flight power and flew backwards, drawing cold within himself and blasting an icy gale at Jason from his mouth, freezing his weapon arm solid before Danny flew back in and hammered more energy charged blows into Jason's chest.

Over the lake, the Magnus had floated to an upright position and began to spin, dark energies beginning to be drawn from within the lake and the campgrounds all around it, and beyond.

Jason's speed again surprised Danny, as he grabbed Danny by the throat and tried to crush his windpipe. Danny's eyes blazed, firing twin blasts of green energy that pierced through Jason's own throat. The monster stumbled back, as Danny charged two more bolts of energy and fired them, blowing up Jason's knee and weapon arm shoulder. It staggered Jason, again, briefly, but he was swiftly heading back at Danny after a few seconds.

Danny glared at the sight. His incredible anger was beginning to be outpaced by the strain of the dimensional crossing again: he hadn't entered this at full strength and he couldn't keep _this _up much longer. Especially since his wounds were also working on him, while Jason kept shrugging his off. Again. And again. And again.

There was more than one kind of pain in the world though. Danny knew that. He also figured Jason had long forgotten, little more than a shambling mound of rot driven by a a singular urge that had followed him into death and beyond. Hate/kill/repeat. Hate/kill/repeat.

For what he'd done, Danny would show him how wrong he was.

Jason was coming, slashing his machete. Danny turned intangible again, Jason's weapon going through Danny. It was almost done, the Magnus was shining with ebony power, and if anyone had been close they might have heard an echo of countless screams and cries…

Jason had stopped, cocking his head towards Danny.

"What's the matter, Voorhees? Are you afraid of ghosts?" Danny said.

Jason turned around and left, stalking off in the direction the unfortunate teenagers who had wandered onto his land had gone. Danny's eyes widened.

"Oh no you don't! No more! NO MORE!" Danny yelled, as he flew over Jason and re-phased back into existence. "LIKE HELL!"

Jason slashed at Danny, who dodged in a more normal fashion and laid into Jason just _like _hell, smashing blow after blow into the demon of Crystal Lake. He could feel tissue and bone giving beneath his hands, despite Jason's amazingly solid frame, but Jason didn't feel it. Wouldn't feel it…

It was done.

Danny snapped out his hand, and the Magnus flew towards him. He'd only done this a few times with living creatures before. It was a highly effective technique to disable minions without doing permanent damage while also inflicting proper punishment to the truly evil who commanded them, but it was also so disturbing to Danny on a moral level that he was loathe to do it except under the most deserving circumstances.

This had long ago met them, as Jason slashed his machete down. Danny snapped his body back to dodge, lifting his foot and stomping it down with all his strength on Jason's weapon, throwing Jason off balance as Danny snapped up his other foot and kicked Jason in the face. Jason was staggered again, a second…

The Magnus entered Danny's hands.

"_**BLACK REMEMBRANCE."**_

With a bellowing roar of rage, Danny stabbed the sword into Jason's chest again.

And force-fed Jason all the pain, terror, and suffering that Jason had inflicted over the years right back into him. Every poor, unfortunate soul who'd done nothing more than indulge a little, or act like teenagers did, who never got the chance to finish growing up and learn to do more or better because Jason had murdered them for it. Every single death that had left an imprint on this cursed lake and its surroundings, that had driven away all the people that used to live here, that had given the name the title of Camp Blood. This was a bad place, and Jason had made it worse. It was high time he knew it. In great, terrible detail.

Jason spasmed under the assault, as the torments he'd inflicted ever since he'd seen his mother die exploded through him, forcing emotions he'd long lost the capacity to feel through him. He thrashed, drowning under them, just as he'd drowned all those years ago. So much pain, so much fear…

So much…

Danny yanked the Magnus free, and Jason collapsed to his knees, his machete sagging in his fingers.

"No more." Danny said, spitting on the ground. "It's over."

Jason's body fell.

Even as his hand seized the Magnus.

Danny's eyes widened as Jason surged back up. Impossible. Utterly impossible. He'd broken a DEMON with that attack! There was NO WAY-!

But there was. If Danny had managed to look into Jason's eyes, he would have seen why.

Rage. Unfathomable, unending rage. Rage that made all the righteous anger Danny felt towards Jason for what he'd done look like the barest pinpoint of light. Jason no longer ran on such things as a nervous system, morality, or even a degraded desire to kill. Jason's essence, his existence, his very embodiment was rage.

Even beneath all he'd done, that Danny had made him experience, the rage loomed ever greater.

He was Jason Voorhees.

_AND HE WAS FUCKING PISSED._

Danny felt the pain almost as cold at first, as Jason slashed up with the machete. His few seconds of utter disbelief cost him dearly, as the blade ripped across his chest, the end slashing up across his face in the process and slicing his lips open. Danny staggered back, greenish blood splattering on Jason's body, Jason not even noticing the incongruity as he tossed Danny's sword aside, stood up, grabbed Danny, and shoved him backwards, ramming his head into the side of the van.

Danny fell to the ground, and Jason raised a foot and brought it down on the Halfa, feeling more bones snap beneath his boot. Danny yelled, but he didn't lie there, as he shoved himself forward and partially upright, trying to get to the Magnus.

Another burning line of agony tore across his back as Jason slashed him. Danny staggered and tried to turn around.

Jason's fist buried itself in his gut, the rotting appendage seemingly merging with him from the sheer force, and then Danny was in the air, flying off into the distance.

Jason stalked off, leaving the Magnus on the ground. No one heard the voice screaming and lamenting what the passage between dimensions had done to Danny.

He was too low on energy. The connection between the two had been broken.

Danny was all alone.

* * *

**NOW.**

Jason's iron grip seized Danny, who had fallen down near a small rivulet that exited Crystal Lake. It was large enough though, as he shoved Danny's face down into the water.

"Oh no." Andrew said, in the distance from where he watched with the others. Their protector was dying. He'd done all he could against this monster from dark fiction, and it hadn't been enough. They were dead. All dead…

"Let's go help him!" Brenna said.

"With WHAT?" Benny said, his own urge to help snarled up with his understandable mortal fear.

"Who cares? We have to do something!" Danni said.

"I…don't know what we can do…" Benny said.

Danny, despite the teenagers' fears, was not ready to die yet. He struggled furiously under Jason's grip, before he finally turned a hand around and fired blasts from his finger wildly. The blasts mostly missed, but one flew true, flying into Jason's right eye and out the back of his head. Jason snapped his head back, and then with another surge of never-ending rage, he yanked Danny up out of the water.

Then he brought Danny down on his knee, back-first. Danny only saved himself from being broken in half by an instinctive use of his ectoplasmic abilities making him more flexible, and even then the impact was agony as Jason bore down on him, trying to rip him in two.

"GO…TO…HELL!" Danny spat, firing more blasts into Jason's face and chest. Jason didn't even react to them, pulling Danny up from the rack of his knee.

There was a tree nearby.

Jason used Danny to chop it down, hammering him right through the wood growth before he hurled him into the distance. Danny crashed down amongst the cabins, his body one great big mass of pain.

He had to get the Magnus. He had to find a weakness. He had to stand up and fight.

He couldn't do any of it, and Jason was coming.

* * *

Jason stalked through the cabins towards the one who had dared to hurt him. He didn't understand. Pain was nothing. He'd long lost the capacity to care about pain, no matter how it was inflicted. Even when someone found an opening, Jason always adapted and survived. That was what he was. A survivor.

A sole survivor. No one came on his land. No one. Anyone who did, and did not leave swiftly, could stay there. Forever.

Just like him.

This strange one would as well.

The rock bounced off his shoulder. Jason barely noticed at first, but a few more managed to get his attention.

"Hey! Yeah! Leave him alone!" Benny yelled, as he waved his broom at the monster, his other friends armed with sticks or whatever they could pick up.

Jason looked at them a second, and then turned back to Danny.

"HEY! NO!" Andrew yelled, throwing another rock. Jason didn't even react, as he headed back for Danny.

Benny smacked Jason with the broom, understanding, perhaps, why Jess had died.

Jason's counter-attack, done without even looking, just glanced Benny and still threw him back into the group, leaving him bruised and winded. Jason continued on, as he lifted the machete over Danny and brought it down.

It buried itself in the ground, as Danny pushed off at the last second and leapt away. He looked at Jason with hard eyes, or rather the one that was still open, breathing hard as blood ran down his body. Looked at the people who he was supposed to protect, and who had tried to protect him.

He would not let them down.

"Still standing." Danny said, and attacked.

Jason backhanded Danny so hard he nearly ripped his jaw off. Danny crashed into a cabin, disappearing in a hail of rubble.

"Oh no!" Danni said, as Jason yanked his machete free.

The explosive noise of the gunshot got even Jason's attention. The buckshot ripping into his flesh also helped, as Jason turned towards the shooter.

"Fuck you." Maria said, and fired again, blasting away with the shotgun she'd stumbled over in the hunter's cabin in the woods. She thought she'd have found her friends all dead. She wasn't sure WHAT she'd found, but Jason was there. She would figure out how he existed later: now she was just going to blow his bastard murdering ass away.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK _YOU!"_ Maria screamed in a litany, pumping blast after blast into Jason. One shot caught his mask, ripping part of its lower half off and exposing gnarled, twisted teeth. The shot after that was even better, blowing the top of Jason's head right off. The last shot struck him dead center.

Key word being last, as Maria's gun ran out of ammo. She pulled the trigger a few more times before that sank in, as Jason straightened himself and glared at her.

"Oh fuck." Maria said, and turned to run.

Jason lifted the machete and threw it, the blade flying through the air as true as Maria's bullets.

Danny caught it, his hand closing on the hilt, stopping the blade a few feet from Maria.

"Still standing." Danny said, and spun before hurling the machete back, the blade impaling through Jason.

"Run." Danny said, looking at the teenagers. They listened, running off and meeting up with Maria. They'd gone above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating just why Danny did what he did.

If all that Jason was was rage, then Danny would not meet him there. He knew now that he would lose.

But…he had something else. One last…something.

"Monster." Danny said. "I won't let you have them. They had faith in me. I will repay it, ON YOUR CARCASS."

The wind began to whirl around Danny, as white energies began swirling into his hands and body. Jason, having removed the machete from himself, paused, cocking his head once more.

"If the fires of hell won't claim you, then I shall call upon other flames…" Danny said, the energies gathering in his hand. "And I shall stand against those who would do harm…"

Jason was done listening, as he stalked towards Danny. Danny lowered his head, looking at the tiny ball of energies. His eyes, and the symbol on his chest, shone emerald.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power. Its burning grip tells me to defeat you." Danny said. "Uh…fruit salad, liberty and justice…forget it."

Danny charged.

"_**HOPEFIRE!"**_

Jason swung his machete.

Danny's fist smashed right through it, breaking it in half.

The fleeing teenagers were all knocked off their feet from the shockwave of Danny's blow striking home. There seemed to almost be a slight pause in the eruption of the power, and then all the cabins around the pair exploded into rubble as Jason burst into flames. The white, destroying fires consumed him, even as he was hurled into the air, flying up and falling back into the depths of the lake.

He sank beneath its waters. Within moments, all that remained of his presence were ripples.

"…and _stay down_." Danny said.

* * *

"…Danny…that was your name right…" Benny said.

"I need to be sure." Danny said, standing by the lake side, leaning on the Magnus. His weapon had done with what little remained of his power to patch his wounds, but it hadn't done much for his pain. But his determination was keeping ahead of it, just slightly.

"He's not coming back out. We want to go home. Please…"

Danny looked at them. He'd been selfish. He'd stood there and forced the kids to wrap their friends' bodies in blankets themselves, not wanting to leave them there. But he had to watch the lake. He had to be sure. _HE HAD TO BE SURE._

He…was tired. So, so tired…

Danny collapsed into Benny's arms. He was vaguely aware of another set coming to help him, as Andrew and Benny dragged Danny to their vehicle. Danni followed, carrying the Magnus. All of them kept an eye on the lake as well, despite themselves.

Nothing emerged, and they loaded Danny into the vehicle, getting in after him. Benny closed his door, and after a second pressed the button to close all the locks.

"…such anger…" Danny whispered. "No peace…in a way…hell…but…not enough…"

"Rest, buddy. You've done it. Let's get out of here." Benny said.

"…sword…special…show you way home…keep you safe…" Danny said, and then slipped into sleep.

"He going to be all right?" Maria asked.

"…I think he will." Danni said, as Benny started the SUV and drove away from the cursed grounds that had claimed so many lives.

Nothing emerged from the lake as they did so. Nothing attacked them as they returned to the Fissure. Nothing came through after them.

Once again, Camp Crystal Lake was quiet.

* * *

_**It wasn't really over then. No sooner had Danny gotten it back together somewhat than he had to run off and do something else. He didn't say what. I think he went to Florida, or California. One of those places. There was no rest for the weary.**_

_**There were other things needed, as well. Explanations needed for the deaths, and God knows how those poor kids are going to handle this whole experience. But they're alive. Danny gave them that.**_

_**Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.**_

_**End file.**_

CLICK!

* * *

The lake was as silent as any tomb, still and unbroken.

Until the mask floated up, its empty eyes staring at the night sky.

The fingers emerged from the eyeholes, and the hand dragged the mask back into the depths once more. For now…sleep.

Until the next time.

_CH CH CH AH AH AH._

* * *

_**See you again.**_

_**Perchance.**_


	6. Halloween 2010: Ghost Riders In The Sky

_**A Horror Story 6: Ghost Riders In The Sky**_

_Instead of telling you the usual, I'm going to tell you to be grateful! I thought I was out of ideas after last year! So yes, this might be the last story! Or maybe not! In any case, let's begin.

* * *

_

_**People probably think, because of how we live, that nothing 'strange' ever happens to us.**_

_**To clarify, we're a group of semi-parapsychologists slash mercenaries slash repairmen. Our 'front man' works in tandem with a 'spirit of blades', and our ranks include a gunslinger assisted by two legendary figures and one who only existed IN legend and an Esperanto-speaking wolf. We travel all over the world, closing up holes in reality that spew out bad, unnatural, unusual, or just plain 'doesn't belong here' stuff, and that's when we're not going into the closest parallel dimension that holds just about anything those new security cam horror films could think up, and then some. Sometimes we even go INTO these holes, and whatever lies beyond. To us, strange is normal. Our way of life.**_

_**But do not think that means that nothing unusual ever happens to us. Oh no.**_

_**Personally, we'd prefer it. With so much of our lives being devoted to what we could call 'unique' pursuits, we tend to be possessive of normal moments. I think the main reason Danny doesn't do anything about the love quadrangle that's developing around him (oh they all deny it, but I've been playing watchman and recorder of deeds for a long time now, and I've picked these things up) is because he considers it a 'normal' problem, and he's come to cherish ANYTHING that could be called 'normal.'**_

_**But none of that excuses us from the unusual. It just makes it so that when something happens to us that could be considered UNUSUAL…**_

_**Well, I'll tell you about it. And before I start, you might wonder why I take a negative tone. After all, in retrospect, this whole thing seems, dare I say it (or type it, rather), cool.**_

_**Yeah…maybe cool to recount.**_

_**Nothing unusual for us is ever cool to live through.**_

_**Sometimes, we wonder if we will.**_

_**For Danny, despite being what could be considered 'half-dead'…**_

_**Ever more so.

* * *

**_

The first thing Danny became aware of as he woke up was the spot of wetness on his pillow, almost directly lined up with the corner of his mouth. With a small grunt of annoyance, he wiped at the moisture with his thumb before running a hand over his mouth and casting his sheets aside. Feeling his joints crack as he stood and stretched, Danny padded over to the bathroom, blinking the last bit of sleep from his eyes as he closed the door and flicked on the light.

As usual, the only one who was aware that Danny hadn't shaved for several days was Danny himself. Facial hair came in all stripes, and Danny's was light, fine peach fuzz that was virtually invisible unless Danny let it grow out for several weeks, something he didn't really want to do. Danny didn't much mind: he'd never wanted to grow a beard. He had enough trouble keeping his semi-long hair out of mulletville: he hated to see what a beard on him would do.

Applying shaving foam and selecting a razor, Danny went through the process before taking a shower, toweling himself off, and getting out the hair dryer to blow-dry his hair. Brushing it once it was mostly done, Danny phased through the wall and into his walk-in closet, selecting a pair of slacks and a long-sleeved shirt before he phased through the floor and to the hallway below. Heading to the kitchen, Danny tossed some bagels in the toaster before getting out two separate frying pans and putting them on the stove. Some beaten eggs went in one, and some back bacon went on the other, Danny turning on the burners and cooking both at the same time, pushing his bagels into the toaster about halfway through. Several minutes later, Danny sat down with his makeshift sandwiches and began eating, pulling a nearby laptop on the table over as he perused his usual websites.

"Hiya Danny."

"Hey Paulina." Danny said, not looking up as the young woman entered the room, dressed in a silk robe. "Had another long night?"

"Took this night off. Need my beauty sleep." Paulina said, heading to the fridge and getting some grapefruit juice. "You?"

"Uneventful." Danny said, tapping at the laptop to advance through the pages.

"Anything happening in the world?" Paulina said, approaching Danny from behind and leaning in on his shoulders to peer over his head.

"Some stuff in Africa…but that's probably outside our pay grade." Danny said.

"How's the Ghost Zone?"

"Well…" Danny said.

"Pardon me." The second, terser voice said. Danny glanced up at Sam, who had entered from another doorway; unlike Paulina, she was wearing her 'professional' outfit that Maddie had designed for her. "We have daily reports, Paulina. You shouldn't bother Danny for them."

"Am I bothering you Danny?" Paulina said, her tone coy.

"Uh…" Danny said, not sure what to say.

"C'mon Paulina. Show some class." Sam said, walking to another fridge and retrieving milk from it. Paulina gave the still-gothic girl (Sam always seemed to pull that off no matter what she was wearing) a sour look, but moved out of her position of leaning over Danny's shoulder. Danny pondered for a moment if there was something he was missing, and then shrugged and went back to eating his breakfast.

"Are we out of low-fat cream cheese?" Paulina said.

"I think that's on our next shopping trip in two days. Just eat the normal kind." Sam said.

"I hesitate to do so. Someone else might get mad they can't use it to pack on the pounds."

"I'm not the one who has it go straight to my thighs." Sam said, grimacing. "Ugh. Can we just drop this Paulina? High school was a lifetime ago."

"It DOES go to your thighs too, you know."

Danny sat at the table, wondering if he should do anything. His beeper/communicator going off saved him the trouble.

"Yeah Mom?"

"Danny, got something. Not sure what." Maddie Fenton said over the communications band. "Computer forwarded me a strange 911 call. In the Midwest. You may want to have a listen."

"Be right there." Danny said, eating his last two bites before wiping his hands. "Uh, girls? Could I owe one of you a favor and have you put away my dishes…"

Both girls shot Danny death-glares, and the Halfa cowered beneath them.

"Okay…was just asking…"

"I got it Danny." The third voice said. Valerie entered, dressed in jeans and a black top, her hands behind her head as she finished doing up her hair. "You get to work. I'll get ready in case you need my help."

"Thanks Val. You're a peach. I'll give you a foot rub or a back…brace or something, later, LATER!" Danny said, his form turning intangible as he fell through the floor.

"Hmph. Have I cursed your luck lately, Valerie?" Paulina said.

"No, but feel free to do so some more. It NEVER gets old." Valerie said, giving the Hispanic girl a wicked grin. Sam sighed inwardly and turned back to her own breakfast, bothered that these things still got to her. She should have been more concerned with Danny's safety and happiness, not petty things like who'd made a move first.

"AHA! We DO have some low-fat left!" Paulina said triumphantly.

"Oh yay. Call down a chorus of angels and sing halleluiah." Sam murmured.

"Should watch that stuff Paulina." Valerie said, putting Danny's dishes in the sink. "It goes straight to your thighs."

"OH THAT IS IT…!"

"LADIES." The final female voice said on the intercom, before a corner of the room projected the holographic upper half of Maddie Fenton. "Let's act our ages and not our shoe sizes, shall we?"

"…yes Mrs. Fenton." Paulina said, removing her hand from her robe free of whatever she had reached for. Sam rolled her eyes and kept making breakfast, wondering if it was going to be one of those days.

* * *

_Ghost Of A Chance had learned, through hard experience, to not skimp on security, both on the technological and the more unusual. It was not easy to get the drop of them. It was even harder for them to be unaware of your presence._

_That simply made the fact that the eyes watching Danny went unknown to everyone, as he landed down in the 'war room', his normal clothes transforming into his black and white skintight costume. A wall opened as Danny shifted, his long black coat placed on its specialized rack within, said rack extending out so Danny could grab the coat and put it on. Another part of the floor opened, extending a platform upward on which a singular blade rested. The sword looked like a cross between a bastard sword and a katana, and was unique in having its length filled with repeated square holes._

_Danny touched the sword, looking ahead. After a few moments, a faint blue aura appeared before him. Danny spoke to it, though no words came through the screen of water that the figure watched on. After twenty seconds, the blue aura surged down to the sword, Danny picking it up and sliding it onto the sheath on the back of the cloak._

"…_all right then, vermin." The voice said. The voice was impossibly soft, its cadences seeming to transcend sound and brush against something that could almost be described as divine. "The rabbit is in play."

* * *

_

_**I'm going to be vague about this part. It's these kind of things that Danny hates about his job, and having to read about it in the main files is best handled with minimum details. All the gory, unpleasant stuff can be found in the specific files, but in these general recounts, I'll gloss over this part.**_

_**Ghosts, as I may have recounted before (my memory's good, but not perfect), tend to be formed in one of two ways. One is the more traditional method of dying and not being able to pass on, for whatever reason that may be (Ember is, was, suspected of being that type, for an example). The rest are a type of hive-mind manifestation, the remnants of strong emotions fusing with ectoplasm to create a sort of 'desire golem', though once formed, said creature can, and often will, take on their own personality. Back in the old days, before the disaster, before Amity fell, such ghosts seemed to come into existence on a monthly basis.**_

_**When Vlad was done, all that seemed to drop off. The Ghost Zone seemed scarred by his actions, almost as if he had rendered the realm 'infertile', as well as the greater problems his Fissures caused. Since then, I can count the new ghost faces I've seen on one hand.**_

_**One of them called itself Harrk'brech.**_

_**Harrk'brech was an odd ghost; it (whether it was male or female, we could never tell) looked like a porcupine and a cardiac system had a baby. Harrk'brech's 'gimmick', as it was, was that it was an emotion eater. Unlike Spectra, any type of emotion could do: Harrk'brech claimed s/he needed it to fill the void inside it. We've theorized, but never confirmed, that it was being exposed to humans, and all their complicated feelings, that gave Harrk'brech the more troublesome aspects of its hunger. Still, as unpleasant as being fed on by Harrk'brech was (as I experienced it myself: it was like someone dug into my mind and soul with an ice cream scoop and wanted a stacked cone, but I pulled through it after a few cups of coffee, so maybe I'm just that good), its actions often took second fiddle to the greater problems the Fissures caused. Harrk'brech was more like a junkie seeking a fix; we tried to help it a few times, but were rejected. I think Harrk'brech may have been ashamed of its needs, feeling that it had to overcome its issues on its own. Between that cruel fact, what it did, and how its name sounded like, we eventually started calling the ghost by another, simpler name. Heartbreak.**_

_**That day…**_

_**We didn't understand what had happened at first. Finding a small town full of dead people tends to point us in certain directions. But after listening to some remnants of the town that remained after the attack, like more of the 911 calls in the vein of the one Maddie found, as well our crude crime scene analysis determining that the victims had essentially died by some sort of non-trauma based fatal arrhythmia, we eventually figured it out.**_

_**Heartbreak had gone off the deep end, it seemed. S/he'd not only increased, or changed, its emotion feeding so that it had become fatal, but s/he'd then devoured a whole town. Worse, this sudden, terrible excess didn't seem to be enough: s/he'd was tracked by Danny and his mother as heading towards another town to start the whole process over. Danny gave chase, intercepted, and tried to find answers. Instead, Heartbreak fled into the desert the towns had been in, Danny hot on his (or her) heels.**_

_**I'm not sure if the Ghost Zone portal had been there before or had been arranged: I haven't yet cross-referenced it with the Infi-Map. However it got there, Heartbreak fled into it. Danny did likewise…**_

_**You would think the fact that he exited into one of the most crippled, unstable corners of the Ghost Zone that exists now would have been the height of the bad day for Danny. You would be wrong. The area was dangerous, but Danny had seen worse.**_

_**The real trouble started when Heartbreak ended up heading for a Fissure that had sprouted up there.**_

_**There's a difference, you see, between the normal portals in the Ghost Zone and Fissures. Ghost Zone portals, as strange as they can lead to, tend to not lead or open to anything that could cause wide-scale destruction to the Earth or the Zone, a sort of self-preservation mechanism. Fissures, on the other hand, can lead to anywhere, and let anything through. Chances are, if this issue with Heartbreak hadn't caught our attention, Danny likely would have located it and closed it that day.**_

_**I suspect…things likely would not have gone that way. Especially when Heartbreak actually fled THROUGH the Fissure.**_

_**I'm sure you recall, crossing a Fissure is bad news. Even if you exit out somewhere safe, it's a terrible process to go through. Heartbreak could have very well killed itself doing so, but Danny had to be sure. At least this time he took a moment to siphon off some excess energy from the Ghost Zone to make crossing through it easier.**_

_**So Danny crossed.**_

_**That's when it really started.

* * *

**_

As much as Danny wanted to gasp for air, he kept his eyes and windpipe firmly closed as he stepped out the other side of the Fissure. The fact that he didn't immediately feel pain was a good sign, but Danny waited a few more seconds until the Magnus confirmed that he could both see and breath where he'd come out.

"…huh." Danny said, looking around at the rocky plateaus and sand around him. He'd exited one desert and ended up in another one, it seemed, though the portal to the Ghost Zone had been located in an expanse of dune sands, while this current desert location was more mountainous. Well, that, and the fact that it was night here. If he hadn't been in a hurry, Danny might have stopped and looked at the sky to see if, and how, the stars were different on this world. The Halfa was pretty sure it was still Earth: while he saw no evidence of civilization in terms of dwellings, he was pretty sure he could see a paved road off in the distance.

Those, however, were secondary observations. Danny, having been able to cross the Fissure without much trouble (this time), was more focused on catching up to Heartbreak. Fortunately, s/he hadn't gone far.

As said, crossing a Fissure without preparation was a dangerous business, something Heartbreak had learned firsthand. The ghost had clearly crash-landed upon arrival, and had only managed to drag itself a few dozen yards when Danny arrived. Having pulled itself up via the rock next to it, Heartbreak was now glaring dully at Danny.

The emotion eater didn't have a face, in any traditional sense. Besides eyes composed of light, Heartbreak's face was a completely blank slate, the ghost speaking mentally rather then vocally. It's hair was composed of thick, jagged strands that fanned out from its head in a razor-plume, its short, semi-hunched body also armed with long, curved claws and powerfully coiled legs. The ghost, unlike some of its fellows, wore no clothing, but that didn't really matter as it possessed no indication of sex, its body as desolate as its face.

It did, however, have one new aspect of it Danny had never seen before, and which he hadn't noticed in the bright sunlight of the previous desert. Green lines were scattered across Heartbreak's body, a spider web of cracks that seemed to be leaking white mist. Danny had no idea if that had been due to the feeding frenzy Heartbreak had just went through, or something else.

"…all right, Harrk. Let's end this before it gets any worse." Danny said, holding out a hand in what he hoped was a peaceful fashion.

"End…worse…" Heartbreak 'said', its voice a melodious rasp. "No end, Halfa…not…for me…"

"Harrk, if something's wrong…"

"EVERYTHING WRONG! EVERYTHING!" Heartbreak said, pushing itself off the rock and starting towards Danny. The ghost's staggering gait spoke to Danny of immense pain rather then hostility, though, and he did not draw his sword. "Empty! Always empty…!"

"I know." Danny said. "We can still find a way to help you. Come on…don't make this any worse…"

"Worse…" Heartbreak said, cocking its head. "Help…help worse…"

Heartbreak stumbled, falling to one knee. Instinctively, Danny moved to help the ghost…

He drew up short when he saw the mist steam from within Heartbreak's body, the ghost's form going taunt.

"NO WORSE." Heartbreak said.

The ghost snapped out its right arm, and vein-like tentacles tore from within it, seeking pseudopods trying to tear into Danny's form. The Halfa dodged to the side, his guts clenching and his heart going cold.

"Aw man…" Danny said, though he was replying to a whisper inside his head rather then Heartbreak's reaction. "Damn it all."

"FEEEEEDDDD!" Heartbreak yelled, lancing towards Danny. Danny jumped over the attacking ghost, trying to draw the Magnus. Heartbreak bounded off its new landing point before he did, leaping up into the nearest rock formation and ricocheting off it like a pinball at Danny.

The Halfa yelled as Heartbreak surged by, its claws carving across Danny's body. The talons did not actually break his skin, but their passage burned nonetheless, in a way that was more than physical. Danny got the Magnus out just before Heartbreak bounced off another rock protrusion and crashed into Danny, the two of them falling down onto the rocky sand with a low crash.

"NEEEDDDD…MOOOREEEEEEE!" Heartbreak shrieked, Danny feeling the ghost trying to tear into his heart and soul. A thrusting flip-toss stopped the process as Danny hurled the ghost off of himself, said ghost doing a tumbling crash landing that looked immensely painful. Danny got up a second before Heartbreak, its eyes burning with need.

"HARRK, STOP! JUST TRY…!"

"FEEEEDDDD MEEEEEE!" Heartbreak screamed, charging forward. Danny yanked his sword up to defend himself…

Too slow. But not in the fashion Danny was used to; instead of failing to fend off the attack, Danny failed to properly blunt the defense.

Heartbreak impaled itself on the Magnus, its body crashing into Danny and driving him back against another rock face. Danny's eyes went wide at the situation, even as Heartbreak continued to claw at Danny's chest and face, like the sword that it had driven through itself in its mad attack wasn't there. Ignorance, however, had a short shelf life in these situations, and on the crack of his peripheral vision, Danny saw the entry wound ignite with blazing light.

"MOREEEEEEEEE! MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Heartbreak rasped. Danny looked at the agonizing ghost, completely lost in a bottomless void of terrible thirst, and he knew what he had to do.

"…I'm sorry…so sorry…" Danny said, his hand clenching on his sword hilt, the blade erupting with the destroying energy Danny called the Absolute.

"KRRRIIEEEEEEEEE!" Heartbreak screamed, its whole body lighting up with more cracks. Even as the ghost screamed, Danny felt another voice scream almost in twin, a cry of warning and danger.

Then Heartbreak exploded, and Danny found himself flying backwards through solid rock. He'd lost the Magnus…

No. The Magnus had forced itself out of his grip, using its connection with Danny to activate his intangibility powers. Danny tumbled through the rock, emotions surging through his body, a chaotic tangle of experiences of all stripes. Yet the sensation was muffled somehow, like Danny was walking through a cold winter day bundled up for the cold. The whole process was so jarring that Danny almost didn't notice when he'd exited the rock and ended up going several feet into the desert ground before stopping. Shaking his head, Danny phased back up to terra firma and settled on the ground.

"…Flare?" Danny said, floating up and back over the rock he'd been forced through. The other side of said rock was badly scorched, as was the ground where Danny had been standing. Heartbreak, sadly, was gone, only the Magnus blade remaining, left on the ground where Danny had been.

"Flare? What just…" Danny said, dropping down and kneeling next to the sword. For a moment he hesitated, realizing he still didn't know the whole story, and hence instead of picking the sword up, he gingerly reached out and touched it.

_Child…_

"What just happened Flare? Are you all right?"

_Lost all sense of reason…reduced to pure appetite…_

"…I know, Flare. I…did what I had to." Danny said, lowering and shaking his head. "Hopefully, I brought that poor thing some measure of peace."

_Hopefully…Danny…had to stop it…_

"Stop what?"

_Harrk'brech was overloaded with the emotions it'd eaten, nowhere done digesting it…they were…all released when it died. One cataclysmic eruption of all the people it had fed on…had to…take the brunt of it…your brain would have been…unable to handle so much alien sensation…_

"Took the brunt? Are you all right?"

_Knocked me…for a loop…need to…rest a bit…regain my sense of self…not easy…even for me…to feel so much at once…_

"I got you." Danny said, gingerly picking up the sword. "Kick back a bit. There's nothing left to do here, right?"

_Harrk'brech has fallen…and there is nothing you can do about the emotion he unleashed. Those he took it from…can no longer make use of it. But…area is isolated. The mark will fade…in time…_

"Okay then. I'll just cross back over the Fissure then, close it up."

…_Danny, wait._

"I've seen you close those things dozens of times, Flare. Heck, you were using me to do it, so I _felt _it too. I think I can close _one _myself."

…_I…suppose but…be careful…I could not stem ALL the emotions Heartbreak unleashed…you may have noticed you seem oddly calm…it's a side effect of what you felt…_

"Really?" Danny said, realizing that he did feel rather grounded. Considering he'd just seen witness to another tragic series of death, that fact loomed very large when Danny realized it.

_Will likely return soon…just keep that in mind when you try and close the Fissure…and do anything else for a bit…but primarily, the Fissure…_

"I'll take my time. No rush. You rest."

_Danny…you don't believe you will need anything else, do you? Once I got into my stasis, I won't be able to respond or aid you until I come back out._

"I'll make do if need be. Stop hanging around and get some sleep, or whichever."

…_As you command…my liege…_

"And stop calling me that." Danny said, sliding his sword back into the sheath. "I don't rule much of anything, let alone you."

The Magnus had no reply to give, and Danny hadn't expected one. He took a few moments to rest and scout the area, making sure Heartbreak hadn't somehow pulled a bait and switch. In a way, Danny would have preferred if it had. He hated it when things went this way. Even considering what Heartbreak had done.

"…Okay then…" Danny said, approaching the crackling hole in reality that the Fissure had created. The shifting emerald greens of the Ghost Zone were faintly visible beyond the aperture, and Danny, with some effort, found he could still draw on them through the Fissure. "Let's see if we can't at least end this well…"

* * *

Danny's exit location, where Heartbreak had died, had indeed been fortunate. Any human-type sentience caught in the emotion explosion would have suffered fatal consequences, forced to experience hundreds of different viewpoints, nearly all of them tainted with the terrible last moments the victims of Heartbreak had had. Much like sound, though, as the concentrated wave of feeling expanded from the initial site of release, it would grow weaker and weaker before fading away entirely.

The nearest town was a good twenty miles away. None of its inhabitants would ever know what had occurred that night.

The rider was a mere three.

Rubber shrieked as hands seized onto the brakes located on the motorcycle's handlebars, the rider snapping his head in the direction.

"…pain…" The rider whispered, his fingers slowly clenching.

Nothing normal could cause whatever he had just felt to occur. Nothing normal, and nothing good.

Now…

Nothing good would come of whatever had caused this. Clearly, they'd thought they would get away with no consequence. Consequence, instead, had brought him nearby when it had occurred.

The fingers opened up again, and the fire began to blaze.

* * *

Closing a Fissure was, in a sense, partly like closing a zipper, and partly like sewing up a hole in some clothing in a neat, ordered fashion. The latter wasn't something Danny had any real skill in, but a metaphor could only carry so far anyway.

"Okay…" Danny said, having drawn off enough strength to pass back into the Ghost Zone. Now back on the other side, he held his hands held out in front of him, the Fissure opening placed in his line of sight between his steepled fingers. He had been slowly, ever so slowly, been drawing his hands together, closing the Fissure as he did. It was sluggish, and boring, but after the Magnus' repeated warnings Danny saw that as a good sign. If he wanted excitement, he could go watch a stunt show.

"Right…okay…" Danny said. Another few minutes and…

An odd prickle ran its way through Danny's neck, and he briefly looked away from the Fissure at the shifting green reality around him. Was something watching him?

Danny peered around some more, his concern giving way to annoyance. His ghost sense was a godsend, but it only really worked on creatures of a ectoplasmic or related bent. Maybe he'd just had a normal muscle twitch. Or maybe someone, as Danny's great aunt had once said, had walked over his grave.

A charming thought. Danny put it out of his head and went back to work. He'd keep an eye and ear open for any possible ambushes. Once he'd closed this Fissure, he could find the closest Ghost Zone portal and get home, maybe have some pizza and chill out…

The Fissure had halfway finished closing when Danny heard the odd noise. He cocked his head. Was that a motorcycle?

"…Johnny?" Danny said, looking around. It had been a long time since he'd seen the bad-luck ghost, but unlike some of his enemies Danny hadn't had him listed as dead and gone. Stranger things had happened, and could happen, then him showing up…

The noise was getting louder. Danny jerked his head around. What the devil…

…wait.

It wasn't coming from around him.

It was coming through the-

The roar abruptly became ten times louder as the fire ripped through the Fissure. Danny recoiled, but not enough, the flaming wheel smashing into his face and sending Danny flying end over end with a scream.

"**You cannot escape! Nor can you hide!"** The voice said, the tone a deep, echoing snarl. Danny tried to get himself upright once more…

All he saw, when he did so, was the approaching form, before the fist slammed into his chest. A small part of Danny noted the unusual texture of the knuckles, thin and firm…like he'd been punched by a skeleton. The rest of him was busy agonizing over the sheer pressure of the attack, even as Danny flew backwards, a smoking mark left on his chest symbol…

The portal was coming up on Danny before he realized it was there. Danny abruptly felt the shift in realities as the Ghost Zone gave way to the real world. It was not the same portal that Danny had chased Heartbreak through, though; this time Danny exited out into a boreal forest. More specifically, a steep incline at the edge of a boreal forest that lead to a road winding through it, Danny painfully tumbling down the slope before stopping partway across the road.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Danny said, drifting up to his feet. "You know, if I was anyone else, I'd wonder what I did to deserve this."

Nothing answered Danny's words, and he briefly glanced over his shoulder.

"Flare? Still out of reach?" Danny said. He took the lack of answer as one. "All right then. Just like the old, bad days. Before these new, worse days, but until I find a blue police box I can't do much about that."

The roar exploded from the forest above, and Danny surged backwards a dozen feet, just in case. His action proved to be wise, as the flaming motorcycle, having followed him through the Ghost Zone portal, crashed down in the exact spot where he had been standing, swerving violently to the side before stopping.

Danny blinked. He hadn't been seeing things. What had slammed into him from the Fissure and followed him back into his own world was, in fact, a giant flaming motorcycle. Well, to be specific, the wheels were the only things on fire. Technically, they were made of fire, the actual bike looking like a cross between a Harley-Davidson classic and a heavy metal album cover, its front covered with a metal horned demon structure whose mouth was open in a snarling bellow. As for its occupant, he was dressed completely in black leather, wearing large steel-toed boots on his feet and with masses of spikes on his wrists and shoulders. Though those features tended to be somewhat less noticeable then his primary one, that being that his head was a skull. Which was also on fire.

"…it's going to be one of those days, isn't it." Danny said. The motorcycle skull, if he heard Danny, gave no sign, instead stabbing an accusing finger at Danny.

"**I told you, sinner. No escape. Whatever crimes you bear, they will be your last. Executing them in my world has sealed your OWN execution. Nothing can stop me, sinner! And for all the pain I bore at your escape, will be repaid a thousand fold!"**

"Wait, wait!" Danny said, holding up his hands. Considering how this guy was talking, he clearly hadn't much liked his unprepared and unprotected trip through the Fissure. He also clearly had gotten a very wrong idea somewhere, and Danny really didn't want to bear the brunt of it. "Listen to me! There's been a mistake!"

"**A mistake? You unleash such pain, and the suffering of innocents, and you trying to skulk away like a thief in the night? With such a steady heart and mind?"** The motorcycle man said.

"What?" Danny replied, before Flare's words came back to him. His emotions weren't normal, not after Heartbreak's meltdown. Indeed, instead of freaking out here, he'd actually stayed pretty calm. Which his new 'acquaintance' was clearly misreading, no doubt from Fissure effects. Wonderful.

"**Your time is over, sinner! You will burn, and scream, and lament your crimes! So is the duty, and the pleasure, of the Ghost Rider! Vengeance will be had!"**

"Oh my life." Danny said, as the Ghost Rider opened up the throttle on his demonic motorcycle and blazed down the road at Danny, its fiery wheels scarring the road behind it. "For the love of…!"

Danny shifted upwards a bit and thrust out his arms, somehow making it over the flaming wheel as he jammed his hands against the handlebars. The terrible heat beneath him seared into his skin, but Danny did his best to fight through it as he gazed into Ghost Rider's burning visage.

"This is a mistake! Can we talk?"

Ghost Rider's reply was a vicious right hook, Danny just dodging backwards to avoid it. It was right about then he decided to stop playing nice.

"Fine!" Danny said, yanking himself backwards, hands still on the motorcycle's reins, as Danny lifted the whole vehicle off the ground. The fire burned him, but he'd felt worse.

"HAVE-IT-YOUR-WAY!" Danny yelled, spinning around and violently hurling the motorcycle through the air and into the forest. It crashed into the trees, the Ghost Rider going with it, and Danny promptly opened up with several violent ecto-blasts, the projectiles smashing into the trees around his target and causing them to break into pieces. The Ghost Rider looked up as he was promptly buried under several dozen tons of wood.

"Guys, can you hear me? Guys?" Danny said, pressing at the communication piece at his ear. He didn't even get static as a response. "Oh come on! You're built better than that! GUYS!"

No answer.

"Flare?"

Once again, no answer.

"…Okay, I can play that way." Danny said, smacking a fist into his hand.

The trees burst into flame as the Ghost Rider forced his way out from under them, chunks of fiery bark dropping off his leather jacket as he stood up, apparently having decided to get off the motorcycle.

"You know, that didn't work on the last dead guy I tried that on, either." Danny said. Ghost Rider responded by twisting his head back and forth, loud hollow cracks being emitted with the motion. "And I'm not sure how that works either."

"**Abandon all hope."** The Ghost Rider said, as a length of chain emerged between his osseous hands.

"Now that way, I won't have." Danny said, and braced himself as the Ghost Rider came for him.

* * *

"_Everyone has been executed as you arranged, sire. As far as we can tell, it worked perfectly."_

"_Of course it did, wretch. __**I**__ organized it." The figure said, sipping from a wine glass. "Have the hounds been prepared?"_

"_Yes sire. Properly maddened and chained."_

"_Get the horses ready. We move out on my command."_

"_Yes sire."_

"_For now…" The figure said, peering into the pool of water that the action played out. "Let the imbeciles savage each other."

* * *

_

The length of chain swung out, cutting through the tree faster and better then any chainsaw could. Danny dove out of the way as the tree collapsed, flipping off his hands and landing near another one. The battle had been going on for a minute, and it had mostly all been Ghost Rider, Danny having fled back into the forest on the other side of the road to get out of the way of his attacks.

"Wow, maybe you should forget about this and go work as a lumberjack." Danny said, and fired off a two-handed ecto-blast. Ghost Rider took it in the chest, rearing back partially before regaining himself. Whirling the chain behind him, Ghost Rider thrust it forward, the iron links abruptly going rigid and stabbing out as a spear. Said spear did not so much impale Danny's coat as burn through it, Danny doing another sliding dodge to avoid the brunt of the attack.

"Oh that's just plain cheap." Danny said, firing several more blasts into Ghost Rider. This time, the burning skeleton marched forward without breaking stride, calling his chain back to him. "Okay fine, distance isn't working, let's get dangerous!"

Ghost Rider lashed out with the chain again. Danny dodged it by leaping and flying through the air, doing a corkscrew to dodge away from the follow-up lash Danny had gambled was coming. His fist smashed into Ghost Rider's jaw…and was almost immediately yanked back, Danny feeling like he'd punched into a jet plane's afterburners. "YEOW!"

Ghost Rider laughed, a low, unpleasant tone, and backhanded Danny, the Halfa flying back-first into another tree. Before Danny could get up, Ghost Rider lashed out with his chain again, its barbed links wrapping around Danny and yanking him up.

"**That pain is nothing compared to-!"** Ghost Rider got out before Danny phased through his restraints, flipping over in the air and ramming both feet into Ghost Rider's face. The infernal heat seared through his boots, but Danny held on and delivering several more stamping kicks before kicking off and flipping over. Emerald power erupted on his hands again, and Danny fired with all his might, the blast again shining out and into Ghost Rider's chest.

And through it. The projectile punched right through the leather jacket and what lay beyond, a mass of flaming bones flying out from Ghost Rider's back. Danny landed with some alarm, even as Ghost Rider shuddered and took a step back. Danny could see the trees behind Ghost Rider, from the hole he'd blown right through him.

"…**No amount…of desperation…will save you…"** Ghost Rider said. Fire erupted in the chasm, and Danny saw new bones regrowing a moment before the fire belched out towards Danny, forcing him to dodge as the trees behind Danny ignited. Danny landed, the Ghost Rider turning to face him, the jacket having regenerated as well.

"**Since you court the flames, I will properly introduce you!"** Ghost Rider said, his hands igniting.

"Uh no that's okay, I'm GOOOODDDDDD!" Danny yelped, diving out of the way as Ghost Rider fired his own blasts of infernal power. More of the forest erupted into flame, flocks of birds taking to the sky as the destruction spread.

"Hey watch it! You don't wanna have Smokey on your ass too, do you?" Danny said.

"**You talk like the arachnid champion. A pity you lack all his other QUALITIES!"** Ghost Rider said, blasting more fire towards Danny. Danny switched gears for his next dodge, turning intangible and sinking into the ground.

"**Ah. Clever cle-" **Ghost Rider got out before Danny phased up from the ground by his side, blasting Ghost Rider at point blank range. A sickening dry crack sounded in Danny's ears as the Rider's left arm was torn off from the attack, but Danny put it out of his head and sank back down into the ground. Ghost Rider turned around a moment, glaring towards where Danny had been.

Then he swung around and hurled his chain into the ground, the metal tearing through the earth like it wasn't there. After a few seconds, the Ghost Rider yanked back with his lone remaining arm, the length of chain erupting from the ground and dragging a still-intangible-yet-still-caught yelling Danny with it.

"**Your tricks are the only thing with a shorter life span than you!"** Ghost Rider said, slamming Danny into the ground, Danny feeling the blow despite his ghostly state. Left without options, Danny seized onto the chain, and green power erupted down it, surging into and igniting Ghost Rider with crackling verdigris energy.

Amazingly, Ghost Rider just laughed again as the Stinger tore through his bones. With another yank, he hurled Danny skyward, and with a lashing whip of his arm the chain released him, its lengths shattering into its many pieces. Ghost Rider stabbed his lone arm up, and the metal all flew up after Danny, battering him violating across the sky before Danny crashed back down several dozen feet distance. Greenish blood stained the dry leaves beneath him.

"**I told you before. Abandon all hope."** Ghost Rider said.

"Yeah…yeah." Danny muttered in reply, trying to get up and ponder his next move. The Magnus still wasn't responding, which irritated Danny: if the Magnus had been available, maybe he could have pulled that new trick he and Flare had been practicing, where Flare used some aspect of her place as an avatar of weaponry and switched blades with his opponent's weapon as they struck. Knowing his luck though, with this chain he'd probably just wind up tying himself up. Plus she wasn't available, so it was all just wishful thinking. "You know, I've heard other people spout that before. Do you actually know where it comes from?"

"**Through me you pass into the city of woe, through me you pass into eternal pain, through me among the people lost for aye, Justice the founder of my fabric moved, to rear me was the task of Power divine, Supremest Wisdom and primeval Love, Before me things create were none, save thing Eternal, and eternal I endure.**" Ghost Rider intoned. As he spoke, fire erupted from his shoulder, forming into a new limb, whose bony fingers Ghost Rider raised and clenched before him.

"**All hope abandon, ye who enter here.****"**

"…You know, I should really stop assuming people are dumber then me." Danny said, having stood back up.

"**Know this: your time is NIGH!****"** Ghost Rider said, and blasted off more infernal fire.

Blue mist flew from Danny's mouth and onto his hands, and Danny fired off a cryonic blast to counter, the supernatural cold meeting the hellfire and, much to Ghost Rider's surprise, overcoming it. The fire vanished as Danny's blast pushed through it, striking Ghost Rider and snuffing out his own fire before he was encased in ice.

The fire returned in seconds, Ghost Rider shattering through the cold that had dared to try and imprison him. Danny met him with a ecto-charged punch, sending the rider flying and smashing through two trees behind him.

"Heard that before too." Danny said, and flew off after his opponent.

* * *

_No matter how often he did it, it never ceased to amuse him._

_How it always happened. How easy it was, to turn the so-called righteous against their creeds. All that was needed was a few simple factors that he provided, and the rabble immediately tried to tear their own guts out. It make their shock, fear, and despair all the sweeter._

_The sight, however, was growing boring. It was time to begin the hunt proper._

"_Do try not to die, rabbits." The figure said, brushing away the picture on the water before turning away from it. "It would be terribly droll."

* * *

_

Danny's cold blast did not stop the chain, the metal smashing into his side and dragging him along the ground. Danny finally fell to the ground to get out of the attack, immediately flying back up as the chain moved on and blasting Ghost Rider with more cryonic energy. For the first time, Ghost Rider actually tried to dodge, and succeeded, the ice blast snuffing out some of the blazing trees. Danny flew in immediately, hammering more ecto-charged punches into Ghost Rider's form, before the rider knocked him away with a thrusting front kick. Danny sprang off his impact from the ground and onto his feet, breathing hard, his mind racing. Surely he had to be getting somewhere. This Ghost Rider couldn't just dish it out and take it with no limits. Surely…

"**Your stubbornness will only ensure further pain!"** Ghost Rider said, drawing his chain back and spinning it before him. The metal moved far, far faster then any normal man could have spun the chain, and as a result Danny was forced to dodge aside as the makeshift drill pistoned towards him, tearing through another tree at its base. Danny rolled off his dodge, flying up to the lower branches of another tree.

"Look, buddy, this is called DEFENDING MYSELF! You started this!" Danny said. "I'm quite open to another means of settling this! How about a debate? A game of checkers? Maybe tiddlywinks?"

Ghost Rider's drill-chain lanced towards Danny, the deadly weapon ripping the tree apart. Danny had been leaping down even before the attack came, springing over to where the last tree had been knocked down, gathering his strength.

"Pick up sticks?" Danny said.

His hands seized the tree, and with one great surge of might, Danny swung the tree trunk around and slammed it into Ghost Rider. The demonic avenger almost burned the tree in half in the process of taking the blow, but he took it, thrown to the side and off his feet. Danny dropped the tree before it became too heavy for him and flew up above Ghost Rider, his hands burning green. With a silent yell, Danny rained down a few dozen potent blasts onto him, Ghost Rider vanishing in a cloud of smoke and dust.

"Yeah, not falling for it!" Danny said, arcing back his arm and slamming his palm out, firing a cryonic blast the size of his whole body into the cloud. Blue light surged out from the cloud, a low hollow whooshing noise being emitted from the attack, and Danny flew backwards a bit before stopping to rest.

"…Okay. Maybe he'll be banged up enough that I can get through. I really want to…"

The chain erupted from the smoke, and before Danny could react it had coiled around his ankles.

"OH COME O-!"

Danny's attempt to go intangible failed once again, the chain yanking him down towards the ground at rapid speed. The smoke cleared just enough for Danny to see Ghost Rider swinging at him before the bony fist slammed into his chest and sent him flying back up into the sky. The flight didn't last long; Ghost Rider twisted and yanked down once more, and Danny was slammed down into the ground.

"**I told you before. NO ESCAPE!"** Ghost Rider said, and slammed his fist down onto the earth. Fire exploded beneath Danny, again launching up skyward…directly into the follow-up blast from Ghost Rider, the hellfire tearing into Danny's body and sending him deeper into the forest before he crashed through another tree and landed in a small brook.

For a moment, Danny lay there, trails of green blood being carried away from the water.

"…fine." Danny said, pushing his way up. He could see the form of Ghost Rider approaching, but Danny ignored that fact as he took to the sky, flying upwards at rapid speed. The chain tore from the trees almost immediately, seeking to draw him back down, but Danny wasn't trying to escape. All he wanted was a few seconds to see off into the distance, and confirm something.

His assumption was correct. The only small town Danny could see was several miles away and off to his right. Danny immediately changed direction, flying back and landing in the water of the streamlet.

"**Have you accepted your fate, then?"** Ghost Rider said, having reached the edge of brook.

"Have a listen." Danny said, drawing in as deep a breath as he could.

The Ghostly Wail tore up the stones in front of Danny, Ghost Rider taking one step back before it smashed into him. Danny poured all his energy into the devastating cacophony, the trees around and behind Ghost Rider being torn apart or out by their roots, the trees beyond suffering similar damage and the fire that had begun consuming the forest blown out like a birthday candle. For nine seconds Danny sent his ultimate Phantom attack out, before the exhaustion finally grew too much, and the attack ceased.

"…I…remember…why that always…kinda sucked." Danny said. Ghost Rider had no reply, having been driven back about twenty feet. The fact remained, however, that he had never left _his_ feet.

The avenger took a step, and stumbled, falling to one knee. Through bleary eyes, Danny watched.

The fire flickered on the Rider's skull for a moment, and then roared back at full force. Standing fully upright again, Ghost Rider looked at Danny with renewed determination.

Circles of light abruptly appeared around Danny, and before Danny could react his power was gone, leaving him in his normal clothes and jacket.

"…uh oh." Danny said.

"**And so it ends."** Ghost Rider said, striding forward. **"Whatever crimes you committed for power, it was not enough. Now vengeance shall burn your soul to ash."**

"Wait, look…this is a mistake…just listen…!" Danny said, trying to find the energy to move. "I'm sorry I picked a fight, but I didn't, let me EXPLAIN…!"

Ghost Rider's skeletal hand shot out, seizing Danny by the front of his shirt with an iron grip.

"**LOOK INTO MY EYES."** Ghost Rider thundered, pulling Danny face to face with him. **"LOOK, AND BURN, AND…!"**

Danny didn't hear anything else, as the images washed over him.

"_This is my town. No one makes trouble here!"_

"_If you want to discuss this, you'll have to go through me!"_

"_Yeah, they hate me…is that really a reason to give up?"_

"_I believe in you, Danny."_

"_NO VLAD, STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!"_

"_This isn't your fault Danny."_

"_That doesn't really change anything. I have a part in all this mess, and I have to clean it up."_

"…_I miss you Dad…"_

"_I miss you…"_

"_I'll find you…"_

"_I know I will…"_

Danny felt the bony hand release him, his first sense of reality being his pants becoming soaked as he fell on his rear in the stream. Danny blinked, thinking about all he'd just seen. His life, and all it had entailed.

The Ghost Rider had taken a few steps back, one hand pressed against his head. Even lacking a proper face to show it, Danny could tell he was confused.

"…You know." Danny said. "If you'd done that to start, we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble."

"**How is this possible…"** Ghost Rider said. **"I felt, I was certain…and yet…"**

"Everyone makes mistakes?" Danny said, carefully standing up, still wary of an attack, and uncertain what he could do to fend it off if it occurred.

"**I am the servant of vengeance, I do NOT make mistakes! And yet…"** Ghost Rider said, looking at Danny. **"Innocent."**

Danny's reply was cut off when he felt the surge of power on his back, and a moment later blue energy ignited and flew from within the sword he'd managed to keep on his back the whole time, manifesting off to Danny's side in a featureless mist.

_You! Demon! I name you, demon! Zarathos!_

"…**An existential avatar?"** Ghost Rider said.

_I name my emotion, shock and disappointment! How dare you, rider! How could you be so wrong?_

"…**That…"** The Ghost Rider said. **"Is a very good question."

* * *

**

_The hounds were ready. The rest as well. All that was required was the horn. And a grand entrance._

"_Enjoy your last moments, rabbits." The figure said. "Well…actually, you likely won't."

* * *

_

"…**So. The emotion I felt was the released feeding of this creature Harrk'brech."** Ghost Rider said. **"Said release altered your natural emotional state, aiding in my misconception…"**

"I have a feeling crossing a Fissure without meaning to also had something to do with it." Danny said, somewhat amazed how quickly things had turned around. "Crossing through them affects you, no matter who you are…"

"**It should not have affected me like this. Not to this degree."** The Ghost Rider said, clenching a fist. **"I am not omnipotent, but my sight is miles beyond what mere mortals are blessed with. If it was simply my error, I should have realized it nearly immediately, or at least far sooner then I did!"**

_Between what I have just experienced before and after my rest, I do not believe it was your error._

"**If not…"** Ghost Rider said, putting one hand to his mouth, or rather his teeth. **"To cross dimensions where I happened to be at the time. A creature that previously fed without doing harm suddenly killing and devouring far more than it had before, with no sign or warning why. Its madness towards Phantasm, directly leading to its death. Its death drawing me and cloaking Phantasm in false actions. My own self being unable to see beyond it until I peered as deep as I could…all of these are simply too much. This was not a chance encounter."**

"Really? You didn't sign the contract that two heroes have to mistakenly pick a fight with each other at least once a year?" Danny said.

"**I understand your badinage, child, but I suggest you replace it with forbearance."**

_Indeed. Having overcome the initial issue of whatever arranged your meeting, I suspect it will make itself known in a more overt fashion._

"Really? After we had a moment to talk things out? Would that be…?" Danny said.

The prickle had come back, its strange sensation tracing across Danny's neck. This time, however, it did not stay briefly.

He'd been right, earlier. There HAD been another presence, his ghost senses not properly picking it up, but not completely missing it either.

"Stupid?" Danny said.

"**I do not believe intelligence, as you understand it, enters into play here."** Ghost Rider said, turning away from Danny. The forest and inlet in the distance had vanished into a massive cloud of black fog that had seemed to come out of nowhere, everything around it consumed by the murk. Danny felt the prickle move from the back of his neck to his back teeth.

…_This is no ordinary crossing. This is…_

"**A so-called stepping down. Crossing from a supposed higher realm."** Ghost Rider said. **"I should have realized it once the capricious nature of this whole affair was revealed."**

"What? What is this? Who is this?"

"**Something very old, Phantasm. Very old, and very bad. My own experiences with them are non-existent, but the circles I walk in bear enough warning to know their mark."** Ghost Rider said, snorting.

They were no longer alone. Danny could sense the presence of a great many creatures lurking in the fog. From the impression he was getting, none of them were friendly.

"Who are they?"

"**The Fair Fo-"**

"Do NOT speak our name."

The form that emerged from the black mist was hard to describe.

What was worse was that said difficulty was not in the traditional sense. Danny had fought a creature or two with such unnatural geometry or an outright alien nature that it hurt to look at them (fortunately, Danny had yet to run into anything of the Lovecraftian, drive-you-mad-at-their-sight bent, and he hoped to keep it that way). To anything non-living that would be looking at the figure, like say, a camera, they would have simply recorded a human-like being on a black horse.

The difficulty lay in Danny looking at the man, and his horse…and immediately being struck afterwards by a terrible sense of wrongness. The horse looked normal…too normal. Its fur was perfectly set, its hooves shone to a near-glean, its main and tail magnificently coiffed, all of it not bearing not a mark of age, experience, or the rigor of a ride, which did not match the fierce energy roiling in its eyes. And the man…

He wore green-tinted armor under a long fur cloak colored brown and black. His hair was blonde, flawless gold locks bearing not a trace of sweat. And his face…

He was somehow both beautiful and handsome at the same time. It was the finest specimen of natural beauty, by Danny's definition, that he had ever seen. Danny's heart ached to look at him…

Which swiftly brought the greater feelings of wrong on their heels. And it didn't come from the fact that Danny considered himself heterosexual. Danny was pretty sure that if he had been gay, he would have felt the same way. It was _WRONG_ to just look at this man, this figure on his horse, and immediately feel emotions that would have been better suited to a loved soul mate or a respected, trusted general. Their presence and their strength quickly brought to bear how unnatural they were, breaking whatever spell that could have been cast by his visage. Idly, Danny wondered if he was just experienced in the matter and if a normal person would have immediately been captivated, perhaps beyond rhyme or reason.

"You lesser creatures stain us with words uttered by your tongues." The figure said, before turning an autocratic gaze onto the Ghost Rider. "Well, you know what I mean."

Ghost Rider let his actions speak for him, his hand snapping out and hurling a blast of infernal fire at the man.

The man's gesture seemed more appropriate to plucking a grape from its stem, but it still made the fiery blast disappear like it had never happened.

"Now, don't be rude."

"**Rude?"** The Ghost Rider said, though he held back from making another attack. **"What is the meaning of this nonsense, faelord? Do you know who you are trifling with?"**

"Why yes." The Faelord said, snapping his fingers. From the black mist, another human-type emerged. His horse was also black, and the same impossible beauty radiated from his features, albeit to a lesser degree then the first one. He rode out next to the 'faelord', producing a scroll from a bag on his side.

"And so, it was said, that Daniel Fenton and Daniel Ketch of the lower realms, have been selected as the honorary quarry of Count Arnau Gwyn ap Nudd, to be run down and slain upon our liege's pleasure." The announcer said.

"WHAT?" Danny said. "Did he just say…?"

_He did. Prepare yourself child, this will not be easy!_

"You are wrong, blade spirit. It is hopeless." Count Nudd said, examining his fingernails. "I have rode at the helm of the Wild Hunt before the species you and the hell-spawn empower had learned to throw rocks. I have seen all their so-called advances, even in unique matters as these two, and it has never remained anything except laughable."

"**You think you can just…"**

"I think nothing. I do. You are my rabbits, and that is all." Count Nudd said.

"…_WHY?"_ Danny said, his tone filled with overwhelmed confusion. "Why me? Why US?"

"You share the same name." Count Nudd said. Danny blinked.

"…You picked us because we have the same name."

Count Nudd stared at Danny as if he had re-assessed his low opinion that Danny was even stupider then he believed.

"…You…you manipulated Heartbreak…" Danny said, remembering what Ghost Rider had said earlier about there being a calculating hand in the experience. "You made it become a killer, made it devour that emotion…cross dimensions, prodded it to its death to engineer the circumstances so that Ghost Rider and I would meet and fight with each other, so we could then be your presumably worn-out _PREY_…and you did this because we _**SHARE THE SAME FIRST NAME?"**_

"Yes." Count Nudd said. "I found it amusing."

Danny opened his mouth, and found no words came to him. He also found that his emotion was starting to come back, as jagged blades of hot rage stabbed at his heart.

"**You…"** Ghost Rider said, having been gathering his remaining strength. Despite his stone-face, crossing the Fissure and fighting Danny HAD taken more then its fair share out of him. Danny's latest words, however, had almost made said preparation moot. The calling had swelled within him, ten times fiercer then what he had felt with the Halfa. It didn't matter what this count wanted to do with or to him. He would see him burn, even if he was pounded to dust. **"You DARE meddle in the affairs of mortals for such base reasons? You slay innocents to manipulate the sick into dying and the noble into battle? You THINK WE ARE SOME SORT OF WOUNDED ANIMAL YOU CAN RUN DOWN AT YOUR LEISURE? PREPARE TO FEEL…!"**

Danny didn't see the blast. He just saw Ghost Rider fly backwards like a wrecking ball at struck him, crashing against the lake bed after fifteen feet and carving up another eleven-foot gash before he came to a stop.

"You bore me, rabbits." Count Nudd said, lowering his glowing hand to his other one. A moment later, he lifted up a crown of antlers, sliding it carefully onto his forehead before he brought his hands back to his reins and spurred his horse into a turn. "Begin the hunt. Release the hounds."

"…Flare, I am going to assume that this will be a lot worse then dogs that shoot bees when they bark." Danny said, reaching behind him and drawing his sword.

_I'm sorry Danny. I should have…_

"I don't need that. I need to know if we have a chance."

_You face a lord of the Fae, creatures born of and in some of the most ancient, primordial magicks in all the planes of existence. The Wild Hunt legend/tale is told in more places then Earth, Danny. The Count's creatures are not of this realm, however familiar they may seem, and his power will flow through them to make them even stronger. _

"Wonderful."

_No, Danny. He may dismiss me, and the Rider, but that is HIS folly. Take me up! Cast them down!_

Danny did not immediately reply, instead looking at the main pairs of glowing green eyes that had appeared in the black mist, Count Nudd having ridden further back into it before stopping to watch.

"Was still kind of hoping for the tiddlywinks." Danny said, raising a finger before him. "Going _**GHOST."**_

The white circles returned, Danny having used the moments since the Ghostly Wail to regain as much strength as he could. He was hardly at his best…

But even as his transformed, Flare returned to her base, surging into Danny's sword and igniting it with red and yellow energies. And that, Danny felt, was what really mattered. The Magnus Flareium was back in his grasp. Let those who did not grasp the importance of that never learn their error.

"**Do not think you'll fight alone!"** Ghost Rider said, the last bits of steam drifting from his body as he stalked up to Danny's side. **"I AM NO RABBIT, FAELORD! YOU WILL BURN FOR YOUR CRIMES!"**

The hunting hounds came, impossibly big, their forms matching no real known Earth canines, an impossible mix of all the worst traits of dogs. Danny brought the Magnus up, clenching his fingers around its grip.

The first several dogs broke off and pounced on Ghost Rider. Danny would have made a crack about dogs and bones had a few more not immediately moved to attack him. Danny lashed out, the energies of his sword slamming into the first dog and knocking it away with a cry, its flank burning with a destructive energy that tore into its nervous system, or whatever it had. Danny leapt to avoid the next dog and exhaled cold energy, his sword burning blue as he slammed it down into the brook. The water within immediately froze and lanced up, deadly icicles impaling a few more of the dogs. Danny leapt away before the next one could come for him, even as Ghost Rider tore free of the pile the dogs had made on him. Despite most of their fur being on fire, the dogs pressed their attack, forcing Ghost Rider to crush one's skull in with a fist before kicking a second away. Blasts of fire downed two more, giving Ghost Rider the time to pull out his chain and lash out, cutting the last dog in half.

Danny barely caught the motion Count Nudd made, gesturing towards the two. He was hard-pressed to avoid hearing the noise though, as the barking of the dogs was joined by the thundering sound of hooves.

A few moments later, the hunters emerged from the mist, more fae dressed in muted colors and furs, armed with a variety of deadly weapons. The first one Danny got to see was crossbows, as three of the hunters aimed and fired bolts at him. Danny just managed to deflect two of them, the third one cutting open the side of his head. A moment later, a dog pounced on him, driving him onto his back.

"**COWARDS AND FOOLS!"** Ghost Rider bellowed, swinging out his chain and sending it lancing towards the hunters. One of the horseman was knocked off his mount with a cry, but that allowed two dogs to pounce onto Ghost Rider and dig their teeth in. Danny finally kicked the dog off of himself in time for one of the horseman to catch up to him and stab at him with a spear. Danny responded by grabbing the spear and yanking, pulling the hunter off his horse. The fae sprang to his feet with impossible agility, drawing a long dagger and lunging at Danny.

Danny dropped the Magnus and turned intangible, causing the fae to run through him. The creature turned around into a vicious ecto-charged uppercut, knocking him into a nearby tree as Danny kicked the sword back up into his hand and whirled around to cut down the dog who'd pounced on him earlier.

More crossbow bolts flew, and Danny felt them slam into his back. The special design of his coat helped protect him some, but it still tossed him onto his knees. The hunter who fired the crossbow bolt at Ghost Rider didn't end up so well: Ghost Rider broke free of the dogs and ended up catching the bolt, igniting it with hellfire, and throwing it back right through the horseman's throat.

Despite this, Danny could see even more dogs and horsemen coming, their ranks innumerable. He grimaced and dragged himself up, firing a green blast to knock another dog away before he started sprinting to the side.

"Don't bother running, rabbit! I sealed up the portal you two came out of long ago! And believe me, you will not have a chance to make another one." Count Nudd said.

"Yeah, running…" Danny said, holding up his sword. After several more steps he came to a stop, whirling around and trying to take in the battlefield.

_Careful child!_

"I know." Danny said, watching the approaching dogs and hunters, taking in the ones going after Ghost Rider as well. He winced inwardly: the last time he'd tried this move, he'd nearly broken both his wrists.

"I see their weapons." Danny said, the Magnus going white. _"MEET WITH THEM."_

In an eye blink Danny was forty feet away from the position he'd been.

In another eye blink blood exploded from a score of the hunters and dogs, the fae animals and horseman collapsing to the ground and falling off their mounts. Danny fell to one knee, pain exploding down his arms. He had, in layman's terms, utilized an aspect of Flare's nature to 'bring her' to 'meet' with her 'fellow weapons', such weapons being held in the horseman's hands and by their sides, with the dogs' weapons being the teeth in their mouth. Of course, since she was in a sword, and Danny was directing the meeting, this turned said meet into a rapid-fire pinball slash that had carved through Danny's enemy like a knife through a Halloween pumpkin.

Unfortunately, more were coming to replace them.

Unfortunately for _THEM,_ Ghost Rider was the first thing they met, the avenger charging forth as his jaw opened wide. The fire that spewed out engulfed everything in front of him, the animals and fae clawing and thrashing, trying to put the fire out and failing.

Count Nudd did it for them, snapping his fingers, his entertained expression having faded somewhat.

"So, you think you can just stand there and play at war? This is a HUNT, rabbits. You will see that." Count Nudd said, before rearing his horse. "FLEE LIKE YOUR TRUE SELVES."

The black mist crackled, and suddenly legions upon legions of dogs and huntsmen emerged from behind Count Nudd. Instead of a varied attack, this group simply charged forward in a crushing, overwhelming mass, Nudd at the helm.

"Oh bugger." Danny said, before he fired a blast at the count. Nudd made it vanish just like Ghost Rider's hellfire, and Danny leapt backwards to avoid a spray of crossbow bolts., landing near his ally.

"**Treacherous craven…!"**

"Yeah, I know, we should probably still not get trampled!"

"**NOT HAPPENING!"** Ghost Rider bellowed, charging forward to meet the fae phalanx.

_Danny! Fall back! Trust me!_

"Was leaning that way regardless!" Danny said, leaping backwards again. He saw the Ghost Rider go for Count Nudd, only for some hounds to pounce onto him, the faelord riding around the avenger like he wasn't worth a second glance. Within two seconds Ghost Rider had been swallowed up by the masses.

"He was less interesting, anyway! Come rabbit!" Count Nudd said, bearing down on Danny. "RUN!"

_Danny…!_

"Yes I know!" Danny said, sprinting backwards, the fact that he was light on his feet even with the Magnus allowing him to do so at an effective speed and without losing his balance. It was not fast enough, however, to outpace the dogs.

Danny managed to catch the first one with a Kickback slash, but the second broke through his guard and slammed into him, trying to drive its teeth into his shoulder even as it knocked Danny down. Danny went with the pounce, rolling and somehow getting back upright in a position to grab the dog and hurl it away. The next two dogs were blasted with ecto-energy before they could get close, and when one of the horsemen spurred their ride to get ahead, a sword in their hands, Danny blasted the ground beneath their feet, causing the horse to stumble and fall, several other horses falling in turn over the first. Count Nudd glanced sideways at the 'dominoes' before facing forward again, and with a slight gesture, he and all his minions rose up off the ground, the horses running on the air itself.

"I hate this legend." Danny said.

_Danny, CLIFF!_

"What?" Danny said, turning around just in time to run off the edge. "Bugger!"

Danny arrested his fall by firing into the air, the projectile driving him backwards onto the cliff proper, Danny digging his sword into the rock to gain a little control. After a few seconds, he leapt into the air, falling downwards at a controlled rate towards the tallest tree he could find.

He saw it during the jump, and his heart leapt into his throat. He wasn't being herded in a general direction. The path the Wild Hunt was on was directly towards the lone town Danny had spotted earlier when checking for collateral damage from his Ghostly Wail.

"Yes, rabbit! Keep running! We will gladly chase you down, no matter where you go!" Count Nudd said, leaping off the cliff with his riders, the horses descending gracefully into the air. More crossbow bolts flew at Danny, and he once again took to the air, doing a massive sideways leap in an attempt to draw the Hunt away from the town.

It didn't work. While a few of the horsemen broke off to attack him, the main body continued to advance towards the human dwelling. Danny had a feeling they'd only turn around after they'd run roughshod through it, to teach their 'honored quarry' a lesson about following the 'rules'. More innocent lives taken, all for the amusement of a so-called 'higher being'…

Danny began to understand why Ghost Rider had let himself get trampled. Danny, however, preferred to mix intelligence with sentiment, when he could manage it.

The first thing he had to manage was to get back in front of the riders. Well, technically the first thing he had to do was deal with the few who had broken off to confront him. More technically, he had to deal with the arrow the forward rider was shooting at him with his compound bow.

Danny did, arcing the Magnus directly in its path and splitting the arrow in half, before going low and slicing the horse's legs out from under it. A dog lunged in from the side as Danny stood up; Danny blasted it as an afterthought and leapt off the tree-top he was balanced on, heading for the farthest rider. The hunter tried to adjust his path, and failed, Danny kicking the horseman off before driving his blade deep into the flank of the horse. The fact that the horse didn't make a sound at the deadly blow lessened any guilt Danny had, as he channeled Kickback energy and sent it firing into the horse in a specific manner. Instead of knocking the horse back, Danny was launched forward, soaring through the air and towards the charging hunt.

The horseman whose mount Danny landed on turned around just in time for Danny to punch him in the face. Several more horsemen turned at the sight, aiming crossbows at Danny, but the Halfa didn't stay long as he leapt across the masses of riders, landing on another horse and knocking the hunter on it with another kick. Said hunter flew into another, both of them and their horse going down, and Danny leapt again before crossbow bolts slammed into the horse's neck and flank. The next rider actually saw Danny coming, and drew a knife to defend himself. Danny chopped his hand off at the wrist before kicking him off the equine, driving his sword into the horse's spine, and using another Kickback propulsion to hurl himself up and over the hunting legions, heading directly for Count Nudd.

The faelord didn't even look at Danny, reaching up behind himself and gesturing. Danny felt the eldritch forces seize onto his body, hurling him forward past the count and off into the distance. Danny managed to regain control in time to land onto the top of another tree, the Halfa jerking his head around to look at the advancing Hunt. He turned to look behind him immediately.

The town loomed close.

Danny turned back to the hunt, his lips dry.

"…All right Flare. Get ready to meet up with them." Danny said, gathering his energy.

_Danny, you can't possibly cut them all down like that!_

"Then just make sure I cut down Nudd!"

…_He might be the only one I can't._

"Limits. They always show up at the most inconvenient times." Danny said. "All right then. Let's see how well he can hunt by his lonesome."

_Danny…!_

"Yeah, I know Flare. I don't really wanna do this." Danny said, going into a semi-crouch. "Never stopped me before."

_No Danny, I mean, WAIT!_

"What?" Danny said, the thundering discord of the approaching riders filling his ears.

The noise of the motorcycle somehow drowned them all out.

"**YOU WILL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT, FAE!"** Ghost Rider said, his fiery bike tearing off the edge of the distant cliff Danny had fallen off moments before. The bike blazed across the air like a shooting star, carrying itself over the masses of the Hunt and plunging downwards towards Danny like a falling angel.

"**Get on Phantasm!"** The Ghost Rider said, even as he 'landed' on the air near Danny. Danny had been way ahead of him, jumping towards the bike as Ghost Rider spoke and grabbing onto the rear of it. The moment Danny did the bike roared off, driving on the air like the horsemen road on it.

"Got a plan Rider?" Danny said.

"**They will not pass through the town."** Ghosr Rider said, the fire on his skull expanding to cover his entire torso. **"I-FORBID-IT!"**

The chains erupted from Ghost Rider's body, lancing out behind him and towards the Wild Hunt. The riders braced to fend them off…

Only to find the chains did not come for them. Instead, they ensnared themselves around the necks of the horses, more chains surging out and grabbing ahold of the remaining hounds. Much to his incredible distaste, Count Nudd even found a chain wrapped around his own horse's neck.

"NO! STOP IT!" The Faelord said, gesturing at the motorcycle. Danny felt the pressure slam into the Ghost Rider, but the avenger bore it as stoically as he'd born Danny's attacks.

"**Burn in hell."** Ghost Rider said, and yanked on his handlebars, his motorcycle veering drastically to the side before the wheels ignited with even more intense flame then before. The chains grew taunt, and then the Wild Hunt began to be turned, Ghost Rider yanking every single member of the legions along, pulling them away from the town. Danny saw the count move to strike Ghost Rider again, and lashed out with his own attack, green energy striking the count when his attention was focused elsewhere, causing the faelord to rear back with a cry. Danny felt the Ghost Rider put on one final burst of energy, and turned to see just where the avenger was directing them.

The side of a mountain.

"Oh boy." Danny said.

The wheels of the bike slammed into the side. The fiery vehicle did not get to drive far before the masses of the Hunt were pulled into the mountain, a shockwave of force from the impact tearing up behind Danny and the Rider and finally knocking the bike from its wheels. Danny lost all sense of place as he tumbled, finally stopping on his side after six painful seconds. The bike crashed down near him, Ghost Rider pinned beneath its weight.

"Rider?" Danny said, coughing as he got up.

"**Do not be concerned, Phantasm."** Ghost Rider said, pushing the bike off of himself as he got up. **"I cannot be harmed by my own."**

"What about the rest of the…stuff?" Danny said.

"**Yes…stuff."** Ghost Rider said as an answer, turning towards the impact site of the hunt. Danny could tell, by the various motions he saw, that slamming them into a mountain side wasn't the end of it.

"NO! NO!"

Count Nudd had emerged from the smoke, and the anger on his face ruined his impossible beauty, truly bringing the artificial, horrifying nature of it to the fore as he stomped forward.

"THIS ISN'T HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO! YOU ARE THE PREY, THE SCUM OF THE LOWER REALMS WHO SHOULD BE HONORED TO BE SLAUGHTERED BY ME! YOU ARE THE RABBITS! THIS ISN'T _HOW IT GOES!"_

Danny stared at the faelord, disbelief coming back across his features. The bright, shining entity of higher realms, commander of untold magical power…was throwing a temper tantrum. Danny swore he was one step away from throwing himself on the ground and beating it with his fists while he kicked his feet. Rather then give him any sense of satisfaction, though, the performance just chilled his heart all the more. He'd seen a breakdown or two in his day, but nothing so…unsophisticated.

"…What is wrong with him?" Danny said.

"**Imagine not being born, Phantasm, but CRAFTED." **Ghost Rider said. **"Image this design not cast for love or a desire to create, but a sheer excess of superior egotism. Imagine coming into being fully aware of the world, with all the knowledge of untold aeons past and nigh-incalculable power that only the realms on your 'level' could challenge. Imagine a life where every chance to learn, grow, and experience is taken away from the moment you draw your first breath. And imagine a creator who likely grows bored shortly after your making and abandons you to indulge in something else. That is how most fae come into existence, Phantasm. They are born old…and hence never grow up. You gaze on the result of a society where madness is the norm, and indulgence of all stripes, including the most vile, is the only way to pass eternity."**

"SHUT UP!" Count Nudd said, pointing at the Ghost Rider. "YOU THINK YOU CAN GRASP OUR MAGNIFICENCE, MORTAL ORDURE? YOU ENRAGE ME BY EVEN HAVING A NOTION YOU CAN!"

"**It is not **_**your **_**rage that should be your concern, monster!"** Ghost Rider said, swinging back onto his bike, the flames on his skull and wheels burning anew. **"You will answer for your crimes!"**

"Rider, be careful!" Danny said, but the Ghost Rider did not seem to hear him, as he tore towards Count Nudd. The Count stopped his angry motions to look upon the avenger, Ghost Rider leaping into the air on his motorcycle and swinging out with his chain.

With a gesture, Nudd yanked the Rider from his bike. The motorcycle crashed down in the distance as the faelord pulled Ghost Rider to him, a look of aggrieved rage on his face.

"You _STILL _bore me, rabbit." Count Nudd said, and Ghost Rider's body shone with the same sickly green energy Danny had seen on Heartbreak.

"NO!" Danny said, trying to leap forward and stop the Count. He'd made it halfway when Ghost Rider snapped out a hand and seized onto Nudd's throat.

"**LOOK INTO MY-!"**

Ghost Rider vanished in a blink, the green energy surging over him and carrying him away. Danny stopped in his tracks, Count Nudd lowering his hand. Danny was certain he saw a flicker of concern wash over his features before the mask of supreme confidence settled back down.

"Idiotic speck. I will have to properly show him his place once the Hunt is done and the mood strikes me." Count Nudd said, turning towards Danny.

The black mist had returned, and from it came the hounds and hunters, some on horseback and some on foot. Nudd's own mount rode up to his side, the faelord leaping up onto it with grace beyond human comprehension.

"Now then…" Count Nudd said. "I believe the lone rabbit remaining needs to be somewhat more…bloodied."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the count, before he held his sword out to his side.

"Time to put childish things away." Danny said. "_UNLO-"_

The count's gesture was swifter, and Danny abruptly felt a terrible sickness slam into his body. He fell to one knee, his arm spasming and almost dropping his sword.

"I think not, rabbit. Your blade spirit can live up to her name. Stay in your hands, and in your sword. And watch you die." Count Nudd said, his horse trotting back into the distance.

Danny felt the weakness abide somewhat, but a quick glance to the flickering energy on his blade showed that was a small comfort. He thought he could hear Flare trying to talk to him, advise him, but the voice was so soft and distant that she might as well have not been talking at all.

"Maybe I should have just stayed in bed." Danny said.

The dog came for him, and Danny thrust out a hand, firing a blast of cryonic energy that froze it in place. Bringing up his sword, he fired what little he could muster of the Kickback energy and met the attacking fae head on, his blade deflecting the fae's axe and allowing Danny to level him with a punch. Leaping backwards. Danny blasted three more fae and then ducked beneath the lunge of another hound. He stood back up to the sound of a horse approaching behind him, the rider lashing out with a whip and wrapping it around him. Danny was jerked off his feet and dragged along the mountainside, bouncing off the rocky ground before Danny finally sliced through the whip with his sword and rolled away. Breathing heavily, Danny was set on by more fae hunters and dogs, one of then biting deep into his ankle and allowing the fae to close on him, knives flashing in the moonlight.

Green energy streamed from beneath them before all the hounds and fae were tossed aside, Danny standing up and pointing at Count Nudd.

"HEY! HEY YOU!" Danny said. "Count von Count or whatever your name is! I challenge you! YOU, ONE ON ONE!"

The fae returned, forcing Danny on the defense.

"Oh what's this, you're IGNORING ME!" Danny yelled. "You think that proves your superiority? IT DOESN'T! IT SHOWS YOU'RE A COWARD! A WEAKLING! A FALSE LORD WHO HIDES BEHIND HIS MINIONS!"

Count Nudd continued to watch, unimpressed. Danny lashed out with a wide slash, driving the Fae back briefly. Holding up his sword, Danny's face screwed up, like he'd just heard something incredibly unpleasant, before cold determination crossed back into his eyes.

"I OFFER UP MY BLOOD IN DEBT! THE BLOOD OF MYSELF, AND MY LINE! BUT ONLY IF YOU CHALLENGE ME YOURSELF, ALONE!"

Count Nudd's expression finally changed, just a bit, at Danny's last words, his head cocking, ever so slightly. Danny didn't have time to say more, as he kicked another dog away and fired two more blasts at some fae hunters…even as several more assembled, arrows drawn against their bows.

"No." Count Ludd said, gesturing. The archers immediately lowered their weapons, drawing back as Count Ludd stepped off his horse.

"I take your offer, rabbit, if only because such idiocy is sweeter then pain." Count Nudd said, approaching Danny. "You do know what you've promised, haven't you? Eternal servitude to me, and servitude of all your ancestors, past, present, and future. You made the offer, you cannot take it back."

"Whatever." Danny said, and charged.

Once again, he didn't even see the fae move.

The backhand from the Count made Danny feel like his brain was rattling around in his skull like a pinball, even as he crashed into the side of the mountain, the rock face cracking beneath the impact.

"The first thing you will do is lay your world to the torch. I think it will burn well." Count Nudd said, drawing his own sword. The moment the blade left his hand, it replicated, the twin swords twisting and crossing together as another sword emerged from their intersected lengths. "Then you can cut down your supposed ally in his world."

"You haven't beaten me YET!" Danny said, charging in and leaping. He did not attack, though, instead cutting his jump short and hitting the ground, rolling and springing off the roll to slash at Count Nudd's side.

Nudd's blade intercepted his anyway, and Danny felt like every part of his body was stabbed as Nudd sent Danny flying again with another crackling blast of ancient power. Danny hit the ground hard, dragging several feet before he stopped. Getting back up, he fired several blasts from the Magnus; Nudd deflected them away with gestures before raising his hand, a circle of flickering fire appearing around him before lancing forward. The explosion hurled Danny into the air, the Halfa crashing back down several meters distant. The hounds and fae, having stopped in their tracks to watch, moved away from him as Count Nudd approached.

"I beat you before you were born, wretch. You were created to serve this purpose." Count Nudd said. Danny pushed himself back up, part of his coat tearing off as he lunged towards the faelord. Count Nudd didn't even bother to attack, stepping aside with inhuman grace as Danny ran past. Turning around, Danny blocked Nudd's sword as he swung it out, feeling the stabbing pain in his arms as he did so. For three brief, eternal seconds, the two traded blows…before Nudd effortlessly slapped theMagnus blade aside. Bringing up his other hand, Nudd followed the motion by slapping Danny across the face, his hand blurring down, seizing Danny, and flipping him over Nudd's head to slam him violently back into the ground. A final kick sent Danny tumbling along the mountain face in a bone-shattering bounce.

Looking with distaste at his hand, Nudd put down the blade, extracting a handkerchief and wiping at his palm. One of the fae approached, and Nudd shoved the cloth into his hands before picking up his sword and approaching Danny again.

Somehow, Danny got up. He was good at that, getting up when he shouldn't have. Blood dripped across his face, more of it trailing from his mouth as he watched the count approach. Slowly, he began closing his hand.

"Don't even bother with your so-called hopeful fire. You will not get a chance to unleash it, I assure you." Count Nudd said.

A violent shudder ran through Danny's whole body, bleak fear blooming in his eyes. He took a few more deep breaths, before he brought both hands to his sword hilt.

"Yes, rabbit. Keep fooling yourself. We fae do enjoy a good trick. Especially the kind you mortals call optimism." Count Nudd said. "Come then. Come and live instead of dying. Come and see what a mercy that would have been, rabbit."

Danny said nothing. Instead, he charged, his sword up, a wordless yelling springing from his lips. The count stood there, sword at hand.

The clashing sound of the blades rang across the mountain.

Danny ran several more steps before he collapsed. He brought a hand up to his chest, and the ugly wound carved there, his life's blood flowing freely from it. He stared dully at the sight, even as Count Nudd turned around.

"Let this be your last lesson in the greatest of all truths." Count Nudd said. "It does not matter what you are and what you have. You cannot surpass my glory."

Danny slowly turned, looking over his shoulder at the faelord.

"…And you can't _SEE_ past it." Danny said.

Count Nudd began to reply, before he finally saw it. The fae surrounding him had seen it before, but the count had long ago beaten the 'insolence' of speaking without being spoken to out of them.

Nudd no longer had _his _sword in his hand. Instead, clenched in his delicate fingers, was the Magnus. His own unique blade was at Danny's side, but Danny had no interest in that.

Just the words the Count had spoken before sealing Flare up.

"_Stay in HIS hand."_

"UNLOCK." Danny said, and Count Nudd felt the power in the blade break free. The power as old, and as mighty as his.

The only difference between him and it was that Danny had some concept of restraint. And how it could turn the tide of a battle.

"NO!"

The sword exploded, tearing into Count Nudd's hand and body. The Count recoiled, screaming, even as the sapphire power blasted across the air to Danny. Danny had already taken to the sky, the Magnus flying to him and manifesting in its true form, the perfect fusion of all weapons. Danny knew something else about the Count, something he'd observed. He had one, brief weakness.

He could be hurt if his attention was diverted elsewhere.

When the Count returned his attention, it was too late, his eyes casting skyward as Danny came down.

"_**NO!"**_

Danny brought the Magnus down, tearing through the count, the energy ripping through his back and impaling into the mountain. All the fae and their animals let out a combined shriek, even as a deafening scream erupted from the mouth of Count Nudd. This couldn't be happening, he…

"You can't…_rabbit…!"_ The Count rasped.

"Didn't you hear?" Danny said. "It's duck season."

The Count let out one last, brief cry before the energy reached critical mass.

For those in the small town of Ridgebend who happened to be looking, the explosion that detonated on the mountain lit up the night sky brighter then the sun.

* * *

Quiet.

It seemed strange how easily quiet could return sometimes. Then again, strange was Danny's life.

It had taken some time for him to locate the pieces of the Magnus. The Count's death, and the subsequent demise of his whole hunt, had knocked Danny pretty far up into the sky. Fortunately, it had been more of a tossing blow then an impact one, and Danny had managed to gingerly make his way back down to the ground.

"…You know…I really…have to stop…sticking my neck out…on such gambles…" Danny said, picking his way across the ground. "Could have ended worse."

_I'm sorry we had to take such a risk, child. But it was the only way to get the Count into the proper place of vulnerability. Otherwise, he would have simply sent his minions at you until you had nothing left. I knew that, once he'd entered the fray himself, you would make sure he did not collect on his offer._

"Hey, he was the one who didn't question how I knew how to _make _such an offer. If he didn't figure out that it was because you'd managed to re-establish contact with me despite his little trick…well, I'm rather glad he DIDN'T…" Danny said, kneeling down besides the broken pieces of metal. "Still, though. What a waste."

_There was nothing you could have done, Daniel. Like Masters and the Fissures, it was out of your control. As for Nudd, he was doomed the moment he was born. Your task was to avenge those he dared to harm for his own amusement. Maybe it will teach a lesson to any other creature who believes he can pass through the Fissures, in person or in sight, and try and toy with what lies beyond._

"…Yeah." Danny said, the blue energy flowing from his hand and to the broken blade. The power quickly lifted and brought the pieces back together, re-forging the weapon like it had never been shattered in the first place, Danny replacing the weapon in his sheath and setting off again. "What about Ghost Rider?"

_Count Nudd saw what the Penance Stare could potentially do. He cast Zarathos and his host back across the dimensions before he could. He may not have had a pleasant landing, but he will have survived it. I gleaned that much from him._

"Well, good and all…" Danny said, as he located the other item of interest. Despite the abuse it had taken, Ghost Rider's bike seemed as unharmed as the Magnus blade. Danny wished he could say the same about himself, but he lived with it. He was a fast healer.

"But what do we do about this?

_Hmmmmm…try touching the gas cap._

"The gas cap?" Danny said, hunting around the bike, locating it after half a minute of searching. "What, is that like the equivalent of Onstar for this…"

The moment Danny's fingers brushed the gas cap, the wrecked side of the mountain dropped away. Danny felt his mind pass out of his world and across the many that were, before finally returning to one he'd visited, ever so briefly.

"**Ah…Phantasm. So you did emerge victorious. I had faith in your chances."**

"Rider?" Danny said. With the connection established, Danny was once again aware of being on the mountainside, with the Rider's visage burning in his mind. "You all right?"

"**I will be fine…for the most part."** Ghost Rider said. **"The fae magicks are immensely vexing, but I am rather glad I have encountered them in this context. It will aid me should I ever have to confront them again, in more serious battles. They will find any misdirection like the kind they visited on me to get us to fight will not work a second time."**

"Glad to hear it." Danny said. "Uh…you kind of…"

"**Yes…my motorcycle. Normally this would not be a problem. I could simply summon it, or create a new one if necessary."**

"Normally?"

"**As said. These fae magicks are vexing. I know that I could do such things…but after our conflict, and the one with the fae, not to mention the trek across realms…I do not know how soon I can. It may not even be in the immediate future. Tell me, Phantasm…did the faelord not say he had closed up the portal we entered your world in?"**

"Yeah. I can't open it back up either. Not part of my repertoire."

"**Yet you informed me that Haark'brech entered the ghost realm you spoke of through another gap."**

"Yeah…that one is possibly still open." Danny said. He didn't mention that he could just head back to his team's base and use the Ghost Portal there: while that would put him into the Zone, he had no idea exactly where the Fissure in it was, and with it having being partially closed before Ghost Rider had driven through it, any signal it would have given off to him would have been weak and hard to track; who knew how long it would take before he found it?

"**Well, while I have done you a disservice, Phantasm, I wonder if I could inquire of you one last consideration."**

Danny blinked, and then his eyes drifted to the bike.

* * *

_**I feel here, near the end, I have to reiterate.**_

_**Some of you might ask, what was so bad about this? Yes, Danny got beat up, but he gets beat up twice a week at average. And he won, right?**_

_**That's the curse of hindsight, really. It takes the worst things and somehow makes them seem appealing.**_

_**Think about living it, if you could. Think about finding the dead town. Of chasing Heartbreak, and not knowing why it'd become murderous. Of being attacked by this strange force, this Ghost Rider, wanting to destroy you for seemingly inexplicable reasons. Of all this happening because you'd been chosen by a childish mind with nearly unlimited power and cruelty to play with, the play equivalent of frying ants with a magnifying glass or pulling limbs off of flies.**_

_**Think about living through all that, never knowing when it would end. Or just how bad it could have ended.**_

_**It still seem so cool?**_

_**For us, your strange and unusual is our normal. And our strange and unusual…**_

_**Looking back, if Danny had to go through with it again…I'm pretty sure he wouldn't.**_

_**Pretty sure.**_

_**End file.**_

CLICK!

* * *

"Ah, Danny! Danny, is that you?" Tucker said, his voice crackling on the communicator.

"Yeah, it's me Tuck."

"Danny, what the heck happened? You just dropped out of contact! We've been trying to raise you nearly half the day!"

"Yeah, ran into some trouble, I think there was a time jump somewhere, what with Fissures and stuff…I'll give you a full account in a little while. Don't worry though. I'm all right. More or less."

"Danny, what the heck are…"

"Tucker, I need you to do something. I need you to pull up where Heartbreak struck, pin it down on a map proper. I'll contact you in a bit with some more info. I need to chart a route there."

"Route? Danny, what are you doing?"

"Oh…" Danny said, reaching up with one hand. "Just getting my kicks."

Tucker's voice cut off as Danny turned off the communicator, and Danny returned his hand to the handlebars.

"Route number optional." Danny said, and cranked the throttle. Green energy surged down the bike, turning the wheels emerald-white, and Danny tore down the wide open road, his battered coat trailing off behind him.

It was one heck of a night for a ride. And if Danny could say so, a real hunter's moon.

"_Yippie yi oohhhh…yippie yi yayyyyy…_

_Ghost Riders In…The Sky."

* * *

_

See you next year?

Well…anything's possible.


	7. Halloween 2011: IM

_**A Horror Story 7: I.M**_

Writer's Note: Little something different this year!

_**Communication is the backbone of any sentient species. Animals tend to function better in packs then by their lonesome, and how effectively a pack can function depends on how well they can communicate. Humans, with their brains, can communicate at far greater levels than most animals, and hence, we became the predominant species of the planet.**_

_**The 20th century saw an explosion in the development of that plane, the likes of which might never be repeated. I must admit, I think that if I was born a generation earlier, I would have been a very unhappy person. A life with just letters, and a phone with the constant threat of long distance bills? I may have lost some things in my life, but I still have my PDA, my phones, and the internet.**_

_**Of course…those can bring their own problems. Especially the Internet. Identity theft. Bubble thinking. Cyber-bullying (the last one really bothers me at times. When you have jackholes leaving insulting messages on memorial Facebook pages of people who committed suicide, completely certain they are invisible and that they chose to use this power to insult the dead, the dead they might have had a hand in making dead…doesn't speak well of what a lot of this world does if you give them power. Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out a way to deliver painful electric shocks through the internet).**_

_**Sometimes, though…**_

_**Worse happens.**_

* * *

From: missfenton

To: scaranormal, tuckamuck, mansonplan, jazzling, toasthemost

Subject: Communications

Our personal communications system will be down for the next three days in order to improve the system. As a result, barring emergencies, we will be on leave until it can be fixed. In case of emergencies, please use your phones and/or computers (there, Tucker) to communicate, and make sure they are charged.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hi Danny. I was thinking…we're in Las Vegas, and Deal's gone…maybe we could go out? Even if you don't wanna gamble, there's plenty of places to shop and stuff."

"Uh…sorry Sam. Val and I already made plans for today…maybe tomorrow?"

"What? Awwwww…okay fine, let me check the weather first…yeah, maybe tomorrow would be good."

"All right. See you later, Sam."

"Yeah Danny. Have fun."

* * *

PL-7855

_U ever wondr if u mist the boat?_

SM-7900

_The ocean's a big place._

PL-7855

_Yeh, but we have no wind._

SM-7900

_We can drift. Not like we're in danger of starving._

PL-7855

_Kep tell uself that, hun._

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey man, we don't have a ton of miscellaneous funds! Don't waste them all on the roulette table!"

"Tucker, Valerie and I are probably going to take in shows rather than drop money into games of chance. Trust me, after dealing with…well, Deal, you realize just how rigged these games are even when they're…not rigged, you know?"

"Yeah. Well, maybe I'll go out and empty our coffers instead."

"Go ahead. You need to get out more, Tuck."

"Is that a nerd joke?"

"Tucker, with you, nothing is a joke. On the downside, that means more nerd."

"Ha ha."

* * *

MansonPlan Vegas is scarring my irises

TuckAmuck Not me. I always wear my sunglasses at nite RT MansonPlan Vegas is scarring my irises

MansonPlan Hey Tucker, you wanna hit the town then? Since there's nothing else to do? RT TuckAmuck Not me. I always wear my sunglasses at nite

PreciousPaulina Tuker N Sam, siting in a tree, K-I-S-D-I-N-B

TuckAmuck Good to see your spelling is as refined as ever RT PreciousPaulina Tuker N Sam, siting in a tree, K-I-S-D-I-N-B

PreciousPaulina Pad small tye one hand hard! RT TuckAmuck Good to see your spelling is as refined as ever.

MansonPlan You just keep telling yourself that, buddy girl RT PreciousPaulina Pad small tye one hand hard!

PreciousPaulina I ken zap you frm two miles way u know

pd EMBRACE INI /6609

Mansonplan The heck was that?

TuckAmuck I dunno…virus scanner isn't picking up anything. I'll turn on my firewalls and check RT Mansonplan The heck was that?

PreciousPaulina Chking random lnks, wht exciting lfe

PreciousPaulina Hello?

PreciousPaulina I on phne, can't chck link

PreciousPaulina Guys?

_**TuckAmuck is offline**_

_**MansonPlan is offline**_

* * *

"He-"

"JAZZ! GET DOWN HERE! MAIN CONTROL ROOM! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" Maddie Fenton yelled, with the sound of screaming in the background. "IT'S TUCKER, HE-!"

A horrific shriek, and then the phone went dead.

* * *

JZ-7888

_DANY HLP!_

DP-7800

_What? What's wrong Jazz?_

JZ-7888

_MOM GNE NTS! TUCK TOO! HLP!_

DP-7800

_NMWY!_

* * *

"Hello?"

"Paulina, are you all right?"

"Danny? Yeah, I'm just eating in a…"

"Get out of there. Out of public, go to ground! We have a problem! There's…I dunno, some weird noise…thing!"

"What?"

"It played for Tucker on an email or something, made him nuts! He infected mom and Jazz, they tried to do the same to me…Flare blocked them out. Thankfully, she was also able to exorcise them, but Tuck's hurt! We need to get him to a doctor, check his spine! Whatever this thing was, it made him drag himself out of his chair!"

"…is that the thing that they saw on their twitter?"

"What thing?"

"Tucker, Sam, and I…"

"SAM?"

* * *

DP-7800

_Sam?_

DP-7800

_Sam please pick up._

DP-7800

_Come on Sam._

SM-7900

_Embrce Ini al trbls cse_

DN-7800

_Sam! Snap out of it!_

SM-7900

_Dnc_

* * *

"How bad is it?"

"Bad, Valerie! I need you to track down Sam!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because Tucker and my mom and Jazz were all affected by this damn noise curse thing and I don't know how far it spreads! They need me to protect them!"

"…right. I'll hook up with Paulina."

"Valerie, Sam won't be herself. Be careful she doesn't get hurt."

"I don't think…he hung up. Somehow I'm not surprised."

* * *

From: RobinIII

To: missfenton, scaranormal, tuckamuck, mansonplan, jazzling, toasthemost

Subject: IMPORTANT. AUDIO VIRUS. READ.

An audio wavelength infection has been unleashed onto random parts of the internet by unknown perpetrators today. The infection manifests through sound, nine very specific tones that alters brain patterns and induced obsession-based insanity regarding whatever the target was doing when s/he heard it. The infected can also replicate this tonal wavelength to spread the infection. Background noise interrupts the process. We are calling this the I-Ni meme plague and declaring a class one alert. Remain off public web spaces on the internet and utilize private servers to communicate. We have developed a counter frequency to disable those who are in the grip of the meme infection, but the counter-tones must be said with exact precision. Please listen to attached audio file to hear the tones and several suggested sentences to use them in if you insist on trying to use them vocally. Recordings are recommended instead. I reiterate, this infection spreads through sound. If you encounter an infected, yell, scream, do anything you can to prevent the compete sequence from being heard properly. Further information will be sent as acquired. Good luck everyone.

* * *

VL-7850

_Dany I fond Sam_

DP-7800

_Where?_

VL-7850

_Dance clb. Crazyy._

DP-7800

_Yeah, get email? Tuck/Sam see Ini in Gaga video. Jst Dance. Tuck hurt trying. Sam go where dance happen._

VL-7850

_I go in?_

DP-7800

_No. Jst me. Use pure Flare. Exorcse virus. Wrk for Tuckmomsis. Wrk here._

VL-7850

_Dany there 100s in there! U get killed!_

DP-7800

_Save Sam. Die after._

* * *

"Miss Fenton?"

"Valerie? What is it?"

"Danny went into the nightclub where Sam is alone…it's bad in there, Maddie. A big thrashing mess of…well, excess. Sam must have infected the whole place."

"Is Danny going to try and patch the counter-frequency into the speakers?"

"No. He said he was going to use the Magnus."

"…Even Danny can't cure that many people. Valerie, I'm sending you the frequency. Back up my son. And shut down the hearing factors of your battle costume. Better deaf than one of them."

"…I'll try ma'am."

"Do so."

* * *

MF-7801

_Jazz?_

JF-7799

_Yeah mom?_

MF-7801

_You tracked down Valerie's location?_

JF-7799

_Yeah I'll be there in maybe three minutes._

MF-7801

_Danny's trying to save everyone. Not thinking. Sam._

MF-7801

_Valerie's going to try to help. Might not be able._

MF-7801

_When you get there, if things are quiet, secure._

MF-7801

_If the plague is still out of control, Valerie has mask, Danny the Magnus_

MF-7801

_Nerve gas the whole area_

JF-7799

_MOM R U CRAZY!_

MF-7801

_I already lost your father, Jasmine._

MF-7801

_I'm not losing your brother._

MF-7801

_You're just following orders_

MF-7801

_Do it_

* * *

"Danny we have to-!"

Jazz heard chaos in the background, along with a pained yell, and then Danny's phone went dead.

* * *

MF-7801

_Jazz?_

MF-7801

_Jazz, please send a confirmation signal._

MF-7801

…_anything._

MF-7801

…_Jazz please answer._

MF-7801

_JAZZ_

JF-7799

_This is Danny mom we're clear_

MF-7801

_Danny! What happened?_

JF-7799

_The usual. Phone brk. Use Jazz_

MF-7801

_Is everyone all right_

JF-7799

_Yeah. Tuck?_

MF-7801

_He avoided further damage_

JF-7799

…_gas, mom?_

MF-7801

…_I just prepared for the worst_

JF-7799

…_You forgot the other prt_

JF-7800

_Hope for the best_

* * *

_**The Internet had always been a lynchpin for the spreading of rumors presented as facts. You know how so many parents check Halloween candy for poison and razor blades? That's based on one single case and it wasn't even random Halloween candy poisoning, it was an insane bastard trying to murder his daughter for an insurance payment and poisoning her friends and other kids to cover his tracks. He failed, thankfully. But it just goes to show you you shouldn't click on random links. There's always some kind of virus behind it, one way or another.**_

_**The Internet had always been a battleground. Look at that recent film about Facebook and all the troubles around it.**_

_**The Internet…hmmm.**_

_**They call it the World Wide Web, but that's an understatement. There's a million worlds on there. A billion, maybe more. It's easy to get lost in all of them.**_

_**But its worlds do not produce food. Water. Air. But what they can produce is an illusion that what it does produce matters more. Maybe once upon a time, the only people you had a choice to be friends with are the people right there…**_

_**Maybe not any more, but you should never forget that.**_

_**Don't forget who your friends are.**_

…_**though that's something that you don't need the internet to do.**_

_**Communication, after all, was our first art.**_

_**End File.**_

CLICK!

* * *

Well then…

We'll see if I can conjure up another world next year, won't we?


	8. Halloween 2012: Wolf Beneath The Tree

_**A Horror Story 8: Wolf Beneath The Tree**_

_**There's something I've come to realize, recently…and I don't know if it's a comfort or another link in the chains that will eventually be wrapped around me as they drag me off to the loony bin.**_

_**Ghosts are, more or less, echoes. They can be very loud, very in-depth echoes, sometimes of existing and sometimes of craving, but as much as we've seen them do, they are, in their way, incomplete. Can someone really be said to hate if they can't understand love any more? Can someone be terrible if they've forgotten what wonderful is? In trying to classify Danny's abilities and specialness, I sometimes think his twin sides cause his traits to bounce back and forth, magnifying it in a way that comes out as power.**_

_**Other things, like demons, those of the dimensions beyond human comprehension, who exist to corrupt and destroy…I sometimes feel they're as much forces of nature as being of malice. Can you tell a tornado not to wreck destruction? Can you tell an animal it should not cut down child or sick prey as an easier target? There's no choice in it. It's what they know. What they are. Much like ghosts…they lack DEPTH.**_

_**Humans, though…humans.**_

_**They can summon demons that consume a town. Release an untested product that turns people into killers. Create a precise series of sounds and tones that sink hooks into the mind and yank and tear until there's nothing left. And why do they do it? Money? Hate? Some sense of power? No reason at all? If there's a connection to all motivations, it is just this; They did it because they enjoyed it.**_

_**They liked it.**_

_**By itself, that can make one despair.**_

_**By itself…**_

* * *

Boston, Massachusetts.

The MBTA, or Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, was one of the largest public transportation agencies in the United States, and one of only two who ran all five primary modes of public transit. As a result, it had a few dozen working yards/garages scattered throughout Boston, where the vehicles of the company came from, returned to, and were repaired at. Danny hadn't bothered noting the name of the particular yard he and his mother had come to. If it became important, he'd go back and look.

He quickly realized it wasn't relevant. Joseph Montemayor was.

Had he checked the man's identification, Danny would have been both surprised and not surprised to see that the bus driver was still on the younger side of fifty. He looked twenty years older, and he did not wear the age well.

Danny knew that look. The way hair went to white instead of more muted greys and silvers. The way the skull seemed to shrink, just a tad, making the face appear like there was too much flesh on the bone. The wrinkles that resembled less age and laugh lines and more like someone had taken the world's most subtle garden rake to a person's face. It wasn't time that had crept up on Joseph Montemayor. It was something else entirely. Something Danny knew far too well, especially these last years of his life.

There were those who just knew the world as is, and were fine with that. They had no curiosity, no desire to explore, and this was not a bad thing. The lines and limits they knew worked for them, and they would contently live their lives knowing, as far as they could see and were concerned, that there was nothing beyond them. To Danny's father, such a life would have been hell. His father, however, had understood that that was just how some people were. It didn't stop him from trying to expand their minds, but he understood.

Sometimes, the other side did not return the favor. Sometimes, things from beyond the limits stole across them and touched those who liked the lines. Sometimes this was benevolent, and the people touched adapted. Or went into denial.

Sometimes it wasn't. The end result was the way Joseph wore his age. He'd been exposed to something he couldn't understand, didn't want to understand, and refused to leave him alone. It had gotten bad enough that he'd contacted Ghost Of A Chance, knowing that being seen with some oddballs like Danny and his mother might just make things harder, in several ways. From the look in Joseph's tired eyes, he'd gone beyond caring.

The worst part was that in a way, Danny couldn't help him. Something had taken more than a few things from Joseph, and Danny couldn't give them back. All he could do was deal with the taker.

His lot in life, death, and everything in between.

His mother had, once she'd sat down, done her job well, talking with Joseph about certain normal things to let him relax and turn his mind away from re-considering his decision to call them. It had nothing to do with losing 'a job'; Ghost Of A Chance didn't charge for cases like Joseph's. It had to do with human experience; nothing was worse than a cry for help silenced because the maker felt ashamed by the people closer to them for making it. Danny and co couldn't always force the issue, and delays could have terrible consequences. It was best to get it out in the first meeting, so that problem solving could begin. And so, having been expertly guided, Joseph began to talk.

"First time, was about four and a half years ago…I think. Maybe a little more. Late June." Joseph said. "I've been driving for the T, that being the MBTA, for close to twenty-four years. Thirteen on the 49 route when it first happened. Last shift of the night, nearly one in the morning. I went through the Sumner Tunnel…didn't notice it at the time. Had to try hard to remember. When it happened, it was just a flicker. Blink and you'll miss it. I thought that all the lights in my bus went out at the same time, but they turned back on so fast that it might not have happened. It was late, I was tired…so I forgot about it. Didn't even connect the dots. There aren't many people on the bus at that hour, and they probably aren't much better at noticing things…so no one noticed it when that first guy, I think his name was Clarence? No one noticed he was gone. His family noticed later, of course, but with no evidence, the police never investigated. He was the first."

"The next one was more obvious?" Maddie said.

"Next one was almost a year later. Same tunnel, same time I think. Just after midnight or so. I didn't even notice the flicker, if it happened that time. Didn't notice anything at all, until I was finished the route and found this guy, Bruce Seavey, sleeping in the back of the bus. When I went to wake him up, he asked me where his wife was. His wife was supposed to have woken him up when they got to their stop…except she was gone. Her name was Ethel, and she'd just…vanished. Into thin air."

"This time the police got involved."

"Yeah. Investigated the vehicle, Bruce, the other passengers on the bus, myself…they couldn't find anything. There was no solid eyewitnesses account, but I _remember _that woman getting on the bus. And I don't remember her getting off of it. Yes, maybe she snuck off, maybe she just decided to leave…I probably would have decided that was the case if Clarence's family hadn't shown up, saying that they thought their son's disappearance was connected…but I didn't have anything to do with it. So I just continued on…until the next time…the next time…"

Joseph went pale, his hands gripping tightly on the coffee cup he'd been sipping from. For the first time in his life, Danny saw a cliché in action, as the man opened his desk, removed a flask, dumped what was likely alcohol into the coffee, and continued on as best he could.

"This time…it was during the day. Early afternoon. Bus was full. I was driving. Didn't make any connection, didn't remember anything. I was just going through the tunnel…and this time…"

Joseph seemed to reconsider something, and then added more alcohol to his coffee.

"It was more noticeable this time. The first times, it being night, and so quick…it wasn't just the lights in the bus. It was the lights there, in the tunnel…and beyond it. It was like I suddenly drove into a mass of pitch-black fog that leaked into the bus. This time, it didn't happen so quick that I didn't know if it happened. This time, it felt like…ten seconds? I jerked back, looked around the bus…"

Joseph went quiet for nearly two minutes.

"All the passengers seemed…far away. Like, they were there…but not. Like they'd all become fog themselves. Except for her. Irene Kearns. Nice girl, learning to be a nurse. She was the only clear one, and SOMETHING…"

More silence. For a moment, Danny wondered if his mother was going to forget personal space and go put an arm around the man.

"Something HAD her. She was pinned to the seat, her face white as chalk. She had her mouth open, but there was no sound…like her lungs couldn't work it out. And…I can't describe…it was a hand and…like…moss. Moss draping itself on her. A giant hand. I saw it and…it was like someone suddenly poured motor oil down my throat. There was a sound like…glass breaking, or ice. I thought it might be the bus breaking down, crashing into something but despite that I couldn't look away…and she turned her eyes, she SAW me…

"Then the light was back. All the passengers were back. Everything was back to normal. Except Irene. She was gone. Just…gone. Like she'd never been there. Within one blink of my eyes…empty seat."

Joseph ended up drinking his coffee/alcohol mix all in one gulp.

"As you might have guessed, there's a difference between two maybe-disappearances late at night and a woman vanishing into thin air on a fully loaded bus in more or less broad daylight. There was a massive investigation, they interviewed everyone, they used the best CSI stuff, some of the people even went under hypnosis…but there was nothing. No one knew what had happened…and went I tried telling them what I saw, they didn't believe me. Had me tested for drugs, had a shrink in to talk to me…ultimately I decided it was just better to recant and lie. Like they'd try and hang the thing on me if I kept insisting on what I saw was real. I'm not in my twenties any more, I didn't want to have to go looking for another job while having the accusation I was nuts following me."

"Understood, Mr. Montemayor. This was the second to last experience?" Maddie said

"Yes, but…no. Getting a spotlight put on me made me realize certain things. Like each event happened 49 weeks apart."

"49? The same number as the bus?" Danny said, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah. And always on a Wednesday, too. I don't know why…but I figured out when the next one was. I had enough pull to get away with some leeway, even afterwards…so when the next day in the pattern was coming up, I arranged for that date for the 49 route to be out of service. Gave some excuse about repairs and rotating vehicles leaving one unavailable to drive that date. I didn't care if they called me out on it later, just as long as no one drove the bus that day. No one did…"

Joseph went silent. Danny knew why. This was the one piece of the puzzle he already had, and it had neatly slotted into place. Nearly a year ago, there had been a day of horrific automobile accidents around Boston, several of which, he recalled, had involved MBTA vehicles. Come to think of it…Danny was pretty sure that it had happened on a Wednesday.

"The accidents." Danny said.

"That was bad enough. But I had…nightmares. Nightmares for nearly two weeks. I took time off work, I tried drugging myself…it didn't work. And they weren't just nightmares. Something was…ANGRY at me. Punishing me. Letting me know that if things didn't go back the way they had been before…much worse would happen. It indicated…the people I knew…my family…"

Quiet again. Danny glanced downward at his coat, even as Maddie glanced back at her son. Noting what he was doing, she turned back.

"But you couldn't in good conscience just get back on the bus and do what it wanted."

"What sane, god-fearing man could? And I can't just shove the responsibility on some other unsuspecting soul…but…I don't think I just ignore…defy it, either. My father died of a heart attack when he was just fifty-three. If I don't drive the bus…"

"You could make an arrangement. Like last time." Danny said, looking up.

"You mean, take the bus out of service again? No, no…"

"Not exactly. Can you take it out of service and let US drive it?"

* * *

"You did remember to have your cell phone on when we went in, right?" Maddie said, the interview having concluded, the pair now heading away from the MBTA facility on foot.

"Yes, mom." Danny said, and for a moment Madeline Fenton felt like someone had jammed a knife into her heart. For the second it took Danny to speak those two words, she remembered older times. When her children hadn't been forced to grow up in ways defined by a cruel madman rather than what they wanted. When what Danny knew of life, he could balance against what he wanted in his young life. All that was gone now. Danny Fenton, and Phantom knew how to have fun. Danny Phantasm recognized what it was, but half the time, no longer seemed able to make a mental connection of its use to him. In the mild irritation that he expressed that she'd think he'd forget, Maddie saw her son as he once was.

But, much like Joseph Montemayor, that was gone now, and nothing would bring it back.

Their lot in life, death, and everything in between.

Danny had taken out said cell phone as Maddie had her flashback, flicking it to show Tucker in a waving, faint hologram form.

"Tucker." Maddie said, her tone professional.

"Ma'am. I had both Valerie and Raleigh check out the Sumner Tunnel. Between them and a lack of anything on our scanners, I don't think there's a Fissure in there." Tucker said.

"I'll check myself, but I don't think this is Fissure-related either. There'd be more incidents, and not so perfectly spaced out." Danny said.

"So we're likely dealing with something that's very clever, or very powerful." Maddie said.

"Very powerful as in, it'll make a good story for the book one day, or very powerful as in, Danny's probably going to use up all the Icyhot when it's all over?' Tucker joked. Maddie gave him a mildly withering look, and he promptly shut up.

"Why this bus? Why the 49 route?" Danny said, ignoring his best friend.

"There's the obvious. What does 4 and 9 add to?"

"13." Danny said.

"Bus 49. Attacked every 49 weeks." Tucker said. "I got the police records open. Assuming all the victims were sitting in the same seat Irene Kearns was…she was sitting in Seat 13. Montemayor also said the first two attacks happened just after midnight, the third in 'early afternoon'. It wouldn't surprise me if they happened at 12:49 AM and 1:49 PM. Or as they'd read in military time, 00:49 and 13:49."

"Tucker, those accidents he talked about last year. How many deaths were there in total?"

"…49." Tucker said, after several seconds of record perusal. "Definitely seeing a theme here."

"All we need now is Jim Carrey to show up. Or maybe someone from that old TV show about numbers…I think it was called 'Pretty People Solve Crime With Math'." Danny said.

"Wednesday is also the 4th day in the week. It has nine letters in it." Tucker said.

"49 is also linked in Chinese belief to ghostly and spiritual matters." Maddie said. "I'd almost think this was Johnny's work, except…"

"Even if we hadn't seen him since what happened in Amityville, this isn't his style. Not even a bit. I don't think his shadow would do, or develop like this either." Danny said. "This is something else."

"How are we going to handle it, ma'am?" Tucker asked.

"More research. Danny will also check the tunnel, just to be sure."

"And on the day, we'll drive the bus in. I'll sit in seat 13...Raleigh can drive. Or Tucker can rig up something…" Danny began.

"No." Maddie said. "It won't work."

"What?"

"This…thing, we'll call it Misfortune, it was able to get in deep enough the second to last time to taunt Mr. Montemayor, and cause accidents and give him nightmares for weeks the last time"

"Less than two weeks, he said. You wanna bet it was 13 days?" Tucker said.

"If we just drive in like that, it will sense Danny's difference, more likely than not." Maddie said. "It's theoretically strong enough to."

"It could already know what we're planning. We don't know the extent of how Misfortune accesses our world, and just when and what he can do when…ever." Tucker said.

"I'm not saying Danny won't be there. But we're not just going to rig the bus to drive into the tunnel at either time and have Danny sitting in the unlucky seat. I think that if we try that…whatever's doing this will stay away. And others will pay the price. Including Mr. Montemayor."

"What do you have in mind, mom?"

"…the fact that if I'm going to suggest this risk, I'm going to put myself in its crosshairs."

* * *

If anyone had asked him, Joseph Montemayor wouldn't have been able to tell you why he was driving the bus that day.

It might have been empty save for one passenger, but even that fact had almost kept the long-time driver from doing his job. He'd been given constant assurances that Madeline Fenton was no victim, that she had dealt with unnatural, dangerous, incomprehensible situations before and she was still standing. He'd been given a small demonstration by the boy that he was not exactly human and that he, and she, would protect the fully human Montemayor. The pair and their assistants had a plan, and they'd been quite willing to figure out a way to drive the bus without Montemayor.

Still, once they'd told him what they'd intended, he'd found himself saying he would come along. Part of him had started screaming inside the moment he'd said the words, and it hadn't stopped for the remaining two days that had passed since then, the fateful Wednesday of the latest 49th week having arrived. When he'd come to the door of the bus that night, the screaming had gotten so loud that he'd stopped in his tracks, thinking he was going to have a heart attack like his father.

Somehow, he'd gotten on. The screaming had stopped as he'd sat down. Whether that meant he had faced and overcome his fear, or if the scream had finally lost its voice and given into despair of inevitable, inescapable horrors, Joseph could not say. So he'd driven, and Maddie Fenton had sat.

The midnight tunnel ride had resulted in nothing. Joseph had even driven back through it twice; all he'd done was waste fuel. Maddie had attempted to encourage him, saying that it had seemed more likely that the attack would occur in the afternoon, based on the first two attacks having happened at night, citing something about patterns that Joseph had been unable to follow. Joseph did not voice his disquiet that Maddie was as much trying to reassure herself as him, instead driving back to the station and trying to sleep in preparation for the second, final trip that afternoon. Joseph did not remember actual sleeping; he mostly tossed and turned, his brain fading from full consciousness but not entering relaxing slumber, his mind filled with chaotic, incomprehensible images that kept him from settling into full sleep. He knew there was nothing 'outside' doing this to him; this was him alone, his fears and regrets, and his inability to deal with them in the face of what had caused them.

It made him wonder, in a brief moment of lucidity, if Maddie and her son were insane, some kind of calm, directed madness that went around people like him. He did not see how their like could face down…whatever had come to him in that tunnel, years ago, having some clue what it was, what it could do, and not crack like an egg.

Maybe the answer was in the fact that despite being bone-tired, scared out of his mind, and certain that this was all for naught, Joseph showed up that day anyway. He got on the bus with Maddie, and he drove. He even kept to his basic route, though he kept a 'Not In Service' notice up on the bus to make sure Maddie remained his only passenger.

The woman did not speak as she sat in her seat. It was probably for the best. What did you speak about, in a situation like this? How she ended up with such a lot in life? If this was all she was meant for? If she was just counting down the days before her luck ran out, or her ability to handle it ran out? Did she wake up every morning thinking that? Was this the day she finally died?

Was this the day that worse came?

Was that really her lot in life?

The thought kept Joseph distracted right until he realized the tunnel was looming. He checked his clock. 1:48. Well, if she could drive into the mouth of danger, especially considering she was the one sitting in the hot seat, he certainly could too.

So he did. Somehow.

The faint darkness of the tunnel closed over him, looming despite its lack of actual presence. Joseph kept his eyes on the faint light ahead. If they just passed through and nothing happened…

Well, then it was on Ghost Of A Chance. If they had a plan, if they were experienced in these sort of things, if they could…

The light had stopped.

Joseph stared at the distant cube of light, the literal end of the tunnel. He looked down at his instruments, at the slight aspect of the bus' underside that he could see with his eyes and rearview mirror. The needle remained at 70, and the wheels on the bus were still going round and round.

Yet they were not moving.

Half of Joseph wanted to turn around and look at the bus. The other half screamed one last time. Just keep your eyes forward until things went back to normal. Just keep your head down. Just keep…alive…

The speedometer was doing down. Tipping past sixty…fifty-five…

It stopped just past fifty. 49.

Then Joseph Montemayor knew nothing more, as the darkness surged inside the bus, inside him, and ate him from the inside out.

* * *

When the bus turned the corner, Maddie pulled her hood over her head.

When they entered the tunnel, she activated her goggles' multiple vision modes, allowing her to see the various electromagnetic wavelengths that flowed through the world. They were useful for spotting ghosts and other creatures; such beings might be able to make themselves invisible, but untraceable was a completely different ball game.

After seven seconds, Maddie realized she was in that ball game. There were two factors in her conclusion. One was that her goggles were picking up nothing.

The second was that her clock had stopped three seconds before. Maddie called it up to the forefront of her goggles' interface. It remained locked in place. Maddie checked her watch. Frozen too, on the exact same second. Maddie doubted it was simultaneous tech failure, either. The bus still seemed to be moving…but everything else seemed to have stopped.

Maddie made an on the spot call, standing up and pulling back her hood. She had a feeling either she'd see nothing on her readings, or she'd literally see nothing, her eyes blinded with interference. She would have to rely on the eyes life had given her.

She glanced at Mr. Montemayor. He wasn't moving, his eyes locked ahead. Maddie's own gaze flicked around, the woman having left her seat as she slowly glanced around the bus.

There were definite signs of an alien presence that came with ghosts. Temperatures dropping. Hairs standing up, on neck and scalp. A heavy degree of vertigo. Maddie didn't feel any of that.

Instead, she felt pressure. Pressure that had started to built up behind her eyes. The bus, if you didn't count its timeless state, did not seem to change, but Maddie knew that meant nothing. The physical world wasn't altering; Maddie's sense of perception was. Her unconscious mind and primal instincts were sensing what her conscious mind wasn't, and worse, she wasn't reacting with normal emotions like anger, or fear. Instead, she just felt…pressure. Like her perceptions were struggling so mightily to process what she was sensing that her emotions couldn't handle it. That it was causing physical strain on her cerebral cortex.

Something was here.

Normally, Maddie would have at least TRIED talking, some form of negotiation. Had three people just disappeared, Maddie would have considered alien forms of morality and need on top of malice as motivations. But the accidents and nightmares caused by the previous year was proof enough to Maddie Fenton that she was dealing with something innately hostile.

She also knew that if she just stood around waiting for something overt to be presented to her, she likely would have lost any chance she had before she knew the battle started.

So she drew her blade first, the green disruptive laser igniting, the bus too small for her to use its double-bladed form. The energies her blade emitted disrupted spiritual entities alongside a lot of more traditional aspects of the world; lacking a target, she slashed at air she was certain was not empty.

Nothing happened. No shrieks of pain, no noise, no sense of impact, nothing at all. True, her blows could just be being avoided…

Under the assumption that she was dealing with something that had the sense, or need, or even the _concept _of needing to dodge blows.

That, or she was flailing around at nothing like 'a spaz' as her daughter might have said once. Before everything changed.

Maddie's instincts hadn't changed, though, and she knew she wasn't alone. So if the weapon wasn't working, change the weapon.

"So, what are you then? Some inhuman child-thing trying to play with the toys of the lower realms or something?" Maddie said, and pulled a dagger forged with cold iron from her belt and repeatedly slashed it around. No result. Not a fae, then.

"Perhaps a curse?"

The next dagger was edged with purest silver. It might as well have been a butter knife.

"The natural world?"

The next dagger was carved from a sabretooth's fang, the fact that Maddie could have accessed a 'fresh' one instead of a fossil just another testament to her lot in life. Once again, Maddie either hit nothing, or did nothing.

"…well then." Maddie said, as she withdrew a metal stick from a pouch on her thigh. Twisting the stick broke the myriad of tiny chemical bubbles the shaft had been coated with, and a flick of a lighter caused the rod to burst into flame. "Sometimes the first tricks are the best-!"

Joseph was right. It did sound like glass breaking. Except Maddie had far greater experience in registering such sounds, and she recognized what it was. Laughter.

The chemical mix on her rod was a lesser variant of what history had termed greek fire, knowledge of which had been another benefit of her life. It would have continued to burn in anything save a vacuum.

It went out like a match.

"**S**oo_oo_o_**oo**_…"

Maddie had dealt with creatures whose forms and languages caused her brain to do a backflip to try and grasp, too. She'd expected something similar here. But not this.

It really couldn't be said to be speaking to her. She registered the speech as actual speech every third word or so, sometimes just in terms of syllables. The rest was images flashing in her brain and sudden abrupt feelings, physical and emotional, a chaotic patchwork of experiences, as if the enormity of whatever had come to share space in the bus was her was overflowing her usual processing centers and causes data to 'slop over' onto other parts of her brain. It was the kind of thing that was impossible to convey in reports…if she survived to write one.

"_**I th**_o_u_g**h**t t_ha_**t **th_**e**_ _**mot**_e m**i**g_ht_ att_**em**_p**t** _so_me **f**ur**the**r defi_anc_e…th**i**s _is __**al**_l it of_**fer**_s…?"

Maddie fought to keep her balance, her consciousness, and her senses. She was under the equivalent of high grade psychic attack, and the being, Misfortune as she'd called it, was just _speaking _to her.

"You have entered our world and done harm to our kind for no given reason. Either give one or leave and do not return." Maddie said.

Again, the glass-breaking sound. Maddie saw cracks run across the windows of the bus, cracks that faded away while Maddie was shoved back into Seat 13, pressed down as if by a giant hand.

"D**o** **y**_o_u r_**ea**_ll_y_ t**hi**_nk_ y**o**u ca_n_ co_nve_y a _**re**_a**s**on _**ont**_o m_e_…yo**u **ca_**lle**_d Ma_de_li_**n**_ef**ent**on?"

"…Everything has a reason." Maddie said. She tasted blood, one of her ears having become clogged up and both her eyes feeling like she'd just walked through a sandstorm. "Yours…is simple. You hurt."

"H_u__**r**_t…"

The window shattered behind Maddie, blasting the woman with clumps of gummy safety glass.

"Y_o_u r_eal_l**y** _**th**_in**k** _y_ou ha_**ve**_ a**n**y cha_nc_e of **anal**_**yz**_in_g_ me?"

"Something hungry eats! Something curious explores, makes mistakes! It might leave suffering in its wake, but it is not aware of it! If you weren't aware, and could think, you'd ask!" Maddie snapped.

"W_h_y _d_o you t**hi**nk y**ou**'re wo_rth_ tho_**ugh**_t?"

"Why do you think we're worth your attention?"

"…h_en_h. **I **th**ink **you mo_te_s h**ave** _**d**_egr_ad_**e**d. In _p__**a**__st _time**s** when Ad_zli_re vi_**site**_d you, **yo**u _bu_ilt w**hol**e wa_**ys**_ of wors_hip_ing your fear o**f** his tou**c**h, his enj_o__**y**__m_ents. N**o**w you t_ry_ a_n_d **con**f_**ro**_nt him? U**nder**sta_**n**_d _hi_m? Yo**ur** les_**s**_ know_led_gea**bl**e a_nc_e**sto**rs wo_**uld**_ k_no_w thi**s** as f_o_lly."

The being, who Maddie had called Misfortune, did not exactly use male pronouns to describe himself, nor did he actually use a name that could be written down as Adzlire. It was, again, the best her brain could quantify the creature's speaking to her, like trying to assign sense after a bout of chaotic dreams.

"…so you've come before, then?" Maddie said, her throat beginning to become raw. Just being held down was having a negative effect on her physiology. Just how alien was this Adzlire?

"I_n_ _th_e terms **yo**u ca**n** unde**rst**_**a**_nd."

"You claim we built religions around you?"

"So ma**ny**…"

"So you're claiming to be the source of all of them? You're the devil?" Maddie said. "Or maybe…every time you came in the last few years, on a Wednesday, named after Woden, or Odin, not only a king of gods, but a psychopomp, a being that takes souls to the afterlife. Is that what they think you did? Is that what you think you are? A god of gods?"

"It **ma**y very be why you have s_uc_h a w_**ord **_and idea in the _fi_rst place. You…o**bje**ct to what A_dzl_ire did? Is that **no**t worth it? S**to**ries and wo_r_ds, in exc_han_ge for some of y**ou**r num_**be**_r?"

"What worth could we have to something like you?"

"**Wh**at wor_t_h do **yo**u ha_**v**_e at **a**l_l_? What und**ers**tan_di_ng can y_ou_ **cla**im? I se_e_ you**r** **li**fe, yo_ur_ p_**ain**_, yo_ur_ _si_ns. You c**an't** ev**e**n underst_**and**_ t**ho**se, let _al_on**e** me. T**o** **t**ry is po_int_les_**s**_. You a**re **ch_o_sen. You ca_m_e. Kn**owle**d_ge_ of _**m**_e or n_o_t, y**ou** are mi_ne n__**o**__w_. And _you_r de_**s**_ire for kn_ow_ledge wi_ll _so**o**n m**ea**n nothi_ng_…"

The pain came, piercing deep into her muscles and bones. Maddie screamed.

Danny's sword blazed.

He'd hidden deep in Joseph Montemayor's body, not so much overshadowing as hitching a deep-cover ride, trying not to be detected. When Adzlire's emergence had abruptly driven the man into unconsciousness, Danny had been both stunned and 'tangled up'; he could have just yanked himself out, but that would risk actual physical and mental damage to the man who had volunteered to keep him hidden.

Thank god for Flare. Had Danny emerged from the bus driver without him, the sudden flood of sensations might have knocked him out as well. Flare filtered them out, kept him on his feet, Danny drawing his blade and slashing at what he could vaguely perceive as holding his mother down.

Unlike Maddie, he was pretty sure he'd hit something. The downside of this was that he also knew he hadn't done anything. His mother remained pinned down.

"…ah **y**es…the progeny…here as w_el_l…even po**ssess**i_ng_ a fleck of power…is t**h**is your **way of **st_**op**_ping me?"

"Pretty much." Danny said, and slashed again. He vaguely sensed something retreating from him, but he had a feeling it wasn't due to any fear or pain. Maddie, free from its grasp, slid bonelessly onto the ground, her eyes glazed and empty.

"Mom!" Danny said, kneeling and checking for a pulse. "I know. I KNOW!"

"So…you stand w_it_h a man_**ifest**_in_g_ spirit…one th**a**t clearly do_es_ not kno_w_ her pl**ac**e."

Danny just glared down the length of the bus. Frost had bloomed on the windows, and in the icy whorls, the dark shadows beneath the seats, and behind Danny's own eyes, he could sometimes glimpse an outline of eyes there. Eyes and hands and claws and mouths and body parts he couldn't even begin to describe. He tried to respond by hardening his gaze, but there was little truth in it.

"Y_ou_ wish to st_**op**_ me?"

"I _will _stop you."

"You th_**ink**_ you have s_la_in mighty bei**n**gs? You h**av**e sl_ain_ nothi_**n**_g. Echoes **o**f possibilities. Rab_**b**_le. Mice in a gr_ea_t m**a**ze I h_ave_ long risen a**bov**e."

"Of course. After all, you're the source of all gods and devils." Danny said, before he slashed out, green blades of burning ectoplasmic energy flying the length of the bus. They faded away before they reached the end, not so much snuffed out as subjected to entropy on a degree they could not endure in the face of. "Lemme guess, you're the source of all monsters and apocalypses as well. That's a popular line of crap."

"H_en_h…It s**at**es itself on the life-blo**od** of fated m_**e**_n, paints red the powers' _hom_es with cr**ims**on gore. Black b**eco**me the sun's b_ea_ms in the summers th_at _follow…is that **wh**at you thi_n_k of me? The wo_rd_s of your story_tell_ers? But of course. Your **kin**d are so SI_**MPL**_E…"

"SO ARE YOU." Danny snarled, running across the bus, his blade blazing with Absolute energy, the nastiest kind it could muster. It ripped through the air as Danny slashed around, shattering a few windows.

"So the **mot**e wants to kill h**is** gods. Do you rea_ll_y think it pos_**sibl**_e?"

"I've done it before."

"You rea**lly** think those go_d_s? Low ent**it**ies that wall_**ow**_ed in the m_uc_k with you? I de_em_ to ba_**re**_ly lower my hea_d _to look at **yo**u, and y_o_u and y**ou**r f_ell_ow motes can b_**arely**_ endure that. Ev_en _you. Do you really thi**n**k you can k_i_ll me? Do you re**all**y think de_at_h has any pu**rcha**se on _**m**_e?"

"If it doesn't, why are you even bothering to talk? Just kill _me_. Me and my mother." Danny said.

"Why eat it w_ho_le wh**e**n it can be s_av_ou_**r**_ed?"

"Does a god need to eat?"

"A g_o_d does wh_at_ a god _**wi**_lls, and w**is**hes. Just as y**o**u m_ote_s _**do**_, to the e_ven_ sma**ll**er spe**ck**s b_el_ow you."

"Wrong. We're limited, and it shows. If you're so damn UNlimited, than you should be able to do whatever you want without harming anything. You don't. So you're not." Danny said, summoning all of Joseph's fear and weary pain, and firing it across the bus in a dark fireball. The Black Remembrance attack broke apart and disappeared, snuffed out like the fire on Maddie's baton had been.

"D_**o**_ these w_or_ds comfort you? Bec_au_se I gr**ow** tired of th_e_m."

The impact slammed into Danny in a way that felt like every cell in his body had been struck, Danny flying the length of the bus, the front window shattering into a spider web as he hit it.

"Your ass_**essme**_nt means _n_othi**n**g. You m_e_an nothing, beyond what I se**ek**. Your world can t_ry_ and qu_**an**_tify me as it wishes. Nothi_ng _in it can h**a**rm me. M_uc_h like your st_**orie**_s of god**s**, every**thi**ng on it kno_w_s full w_**e**_ll…"

Danny's eyes lit up in rage, and he fired a corkscrewing blast of green energy down the length of the bus.

All it did was illuminate…something. The vague sense of a hand and face that kept cycling through different forms, a body impossibly squeezed down to fit into several different aspects of reality, in both discerning and physical terms. What Joseph had been accorded the barest glimpse of, what was now staring Danny full in the face.

"Just…another…spirit…" Danny whispered.

"As **y**ou wi_l_l."

Danny was yanked across the bus, stopping as something slammed into his chest, sickening warm pressures wrapping around his heart, lungs, and spine.

"How you see a_nd_ call me ma**tte**rs not. You c_an_'t stop me. Noth**in**g on this w_**or**_ld can. I need no p_rom_ises. I str**ik**e fe_ar_." Adzlire said. "You h**av**e some_**thin**_g I wish, a_n_d so I w**il**l ta_**ke**_ it. Wh_a_t you suf**fe**r along the w_ay_ is me**an**ingless."

Danny's eyes blazed, and green beams flew through the barely perceptible, constantly shifting form. More windows shattered; Adzlire's laughter.

"Your po_we_r is n**othi**ng. As is yo_**ur**_ aspect. E_ve_ntually, all thi_**ngs **_co_m_e to their su_**peri**_or to be co_nsume_d. Su**ch** is you_r_ fate n_**o**_w, and of t_ho_se who will c**ome **after yo**u**." Adzlire said. "Do y_ou _wish f_**in**_al words?"

"…what did you say…about everything in the world not wanting to hurt you? That sounds…familiar…" Danny said. "…your neck is showing."

Maddie promptly rammed the sprig of mistletoe into the vague shape that was holding Danny.

A small eternity passed.

Danny felt the air in the bus go from heavy to crushing.

Then he realized, to his horror, that that was how he was interpreting Adzlire's surprise that Maddie had done anything at all.

Then he was being tossed aside, the impact slamming darkness down over his eyes as he crumpled at the back of the bus.

"…th**a**t is w_**h**_at you br_in_g?"

The mistletoe fell to the ground. Adzlire didn't even bother turning it to ash, or some other destructive gesture of futility. It just lay there, like the useless mass of plant material it was.

"You se**ize **on some asp_ec_t of an old le_**gen**_d, wo_r_ds of fellow m**ot**es that try in v_ai_n to _**compre**_hend me…and you thi_**nk**_ it ho**ld**s the **k**ey." Adzlire said. "Th_**at**_ is what y_o_u bri_**n**_g."

Maddie glared with bravery she didn't really feel.

"…if you want, I can go-" The woman began.

"_**N**_**o**."

Maddie felt the pressure wrap around her neck, the icy fingers pressing against her brain.

"I de**eme**d to do _mor_e than cl_aim_ my due for a mo_**me**_nt, but you offer **nothi**ng to have made it w_ort_h my wh_il_e. I su_**spec**_t your kind alw_ays_ wi**l**l. S_uc_h will it b**e** no m_**att**_er how closely I **dee**m to lo_o_k at y_**ou**_-" Adzlire said.

"_YOU SEE NOTHING." _Maddie hissed.

"I s_**ee**_ a**l**l."

"Oh really? _Because YOUR NECK IS STILL SHOWING."_

Perhaps Adzlire did its equivalent of turning around. Perhaps not. The end result was the same.

Danny was back up. His blade was blazing with white light.

"**Y**o_**u**_-"

When he rammed the Hopefire-charged Magnus into the vague form, there was no sudden increase in pressure this time. There was no pause, no dulled reaction. The strings holding Maddie were cut instantly, the woman falling to her knees.

"YES. I." Danny thundered.

No. Not Danny.

The something more that served him. The Magnus Flarium. Flare. The bubble of the entity wrapped around Maddie just before the tide swept her away.

"THIS IS WHAT _I _BRING."

Maddie could not hear the scream. But she knew it was happening.

Because the remaining windows in the bus shattered. The seats caught on fire. The metal framework began to soft and melt, the tires collapsing into black sludge. The lights in the tunnels shattered. Cars around the vehicle found their tires exploding, their engines abruptly overheating. And still further it went, across the city, as windows cracked, weakened nuts and bolts in a hundred thousand constructs gave out, and untold people suffered spells of dizziness, vertigo, and anxiety.

The cry of Adzlire. Maddie, right at ground zero, could feel it hammering against her mind even through Flare's shield, her inability to comprehend it not protecting her from its power. Something had never felt pain, never known a challenge, never known fear…learning.

It was a story as repeated as legends of gods. For all the creature's power, it had been unchallenged for so long, if it had ever been, that it did not grasp certain things. Like the idea of an opposing force holding back to take the measure of what it was facing. Perhaps Adzlire would hold back to draw things out, but never to appear weaker than it was. The same incomprehension extended to the idea of a double bluff, Maddie at first playing possum to let Danny make his seemingly futile attack, and then Danny doing the same when Maddie had pulled out her decoy weakness, the last move needed to catch the creature off guard and, in a sense, make it fully stick its head out into the 'real world' to show how unaffected it was by the mote's efforts to stop it. Exposing a weak spot that had been taken full advantage of.

That was the rule of existence, after all. If you walked the higher planes or the spaces between, you had to abide by the rules of the 'normal realms' if you wanted to interact with them. Usually this meant nothing. Usually.

Perhaps there was a realization of its error in its scream, but Maddie couldn't hear it. All she could do was endure it…and see and hear something else entirely.

The blood had started flowing from Danny's nose first. Then his ears. Then the corners of his mouth. If she was getting buffeted by Adzlire's agonies, he was getting bludgeoned…and he was refusing to draw back.

"DANNY!"

"I WILL NOT RELENT!" Danny yelled.

No. It wasn't Danny.

It was the Magnus. It was doing the talking now. In these matters, Danny was just a vessel to pour its will through. And it was ANGRY.

"DANNY, ENOUGH! WE HAVE TO STOP! STOP!"

"DESPOILER! DESCRATOR! MONSTER! FALSE GOD! ALL ANSWER! ESPECIALLY THE LIKES OF YOU!" Danny yelled, his voice fading under something else, something vaguely female and righteous, but also grand and vast and TERRIBLE. Worse than Adzlire, in its way. Adzlire was nothing approaching human. In the sound of the Magnus, there was something that worked with humans. Walked with humans. Cared for them.

Yet, when it came down to it…was nothing like them either. No matter how hard it tried.

Before that…Adzlire was nothing as well. And all it could do was scream.

"DANNY!"

"YOU SEEK TO CONSUME! TO DEVOUR! THEN FEAST ON RIGHTEOUS JUSTICE! FEAST ON IT _**AND CHOKE!"**_

Maddie felt the final echoes tear through her body. It shouldn't be this way. Something so vast, so grand, ended so suddenly and out of nowhere.

Then again…sometimes that was just one's lot in life.

* * *

To an outside observer, the bus would have been fine. Then, in the blink of an eye, it would have exploded.

No, not exploded. There was no fire in its end, no heat or outward propelled shrapnel. The bus seemed to just disintegrate, falling apart at its seams, going from intact to a million pieces. Joseph Montemayor went flying out from where he'd been seated, blissfully unconscious.

Maddie, having run and leapt the moment time returned to normal, caught him just before he hit the ground, her thumb mashing a button on her palm that briefly activated her own personal shield. It would have been useless against Adzlire, but it worked just fine in preventing Maddie and Joseph from being turned into hamburger, the two bouncing along the road and bleeding off momentum before the shield broke, forcing Maddie to take the last tumble and impact herself. The grinding pain shot through it, but even as it hurt her, Maddie felt invigorated. It was real pain. Wounds of the flesh, wounds that could heal.

There was so much worse out there that one could suffer from.

Maddie was saved by being run over by the fact that all the nearby cars had suffered their own damages out of nowhere. A few fender benders resulted, but nothing people couldn't walk away from. The sound of honking horns and hissing engines filled the tunnel, the stench of oil and burning tires filling Maddie's nostrils.

Irrelevant. Maddie laid Joseph down and checked his pulse before running back to where the bus had gone to pieces.

"Danny? DANNY!"

She found her son sitting among the wreckage, his coat and outfit a torn up mess. Flare's blade vessel sat on the road before him, smoking and charred. Danny had been staring dully at it until Maddie had called for him, both his white eyes having gone red.

"…I think we might have overdone it." Danny coughed, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Danny-!" Maddie said, kneeling by him.

"I'll be okay. I've…had worse." Danny said. "…we did it. The plan worked. We got the bastard. Right in the neck. He never saw it coming."

"Well done. I'm calling for extraction. You are spending a week in bed, young man." Maddie said, getting out her communicator.

"Look forward…to it." Danny said, slumping against his mother. "Mom?"

"Yes Danny?"

"What did I say? When I activated the Hopefire charge I'd had ready and stabbed…I kind of got bowled over in what happened. The next thing I knew, I was here."

"…nothing, Danny." Maddie said, holding him. "The plan worked perfectly. You were brave. Rest, okay?"

"Okay…" Danny said. Maddie stroked her son's hair, for a moment forgetting that they were sitting in the middle of a destroyed bus in a battered city tunnel surrounded by crashed cars, having just endured the touch of a higher deity beast and quite possibly killed it. For a moment, he was a child again, her precious son, untouched by the world. Not a grown man called on by the world to do so much.

Not just the world. Maddie's eyes slid down onto the Magnus blade. If it recognized her gaze, it gave no sign.

"…what did you make him do?" Maddie said.

Unlike Adzlire, Flare's answer was perfectly clear and understandable.

_Nothing more than what he, or I, was willing._

In its own way…that scared Maddie most of all.

* * *

_**Charles Dickens once wrote "I know nothing of philosophical philanthropy. But I know what I have seen, and what I have looked in the face in this world here, where I find myself. And I tell you this, my friend, that there are people (men and women both, unfortunately) who have no good in them-none. That there are people whom it is necessary to detest without compromise. That there are people who must be dealt with as enemies of the human race. That there are people who have no human heart, and who must be crushed like savage beasts and cleared out of the way."**_

_**Humans.**_

_**That…thing was not human. Nor was it a ghost, or even a demon. It was some sort of hungry…PRESENCE, something that seemed to exist as all and sole life in a thread of existence that, to who knows how many poor souls, occasionally intertwined with ours. And it reached out and took from ours.**_

_**Yet…it did not just act just out of hunger. It…enjoyed it. It hurt and it enjoyed it. It was so far beyond us…and it enjoyed it. It was even cute, leaving little clues that the numbers and seizing on Norse mythology. It was, in its way, playing with us, while it took people to heaven knows what terrible fate. It liked it.**_

_**Something so vast, so powerful, so incomprehensible…yet so small, so banal, so petty. How could this be a good thing?**_

_**It suggests that such a mindset is not a sole human failing. That it is a crack in all thinking minds, all sentience. The flaw is universal. A weakness shared by all, instead of just by us.**_

_**A weakness that has contrast. Like Flare.**_

_**Flare does not enjoy it.**_

_**Flare was mightier than Adzlire in the end. She, and Danny, have killed things you would not believe: Adzlire is merely the latest. They never brag about it. They never use it to lord over others. It is just what they do. What they're willing to do.**_

_**Maybe that is how they succeed.**_

…_**maybe that is how they may come to enjoy it.**_

…_**Or maybe not.**_

_**We are, in the end, only human.**_

_**End file.**_

CLICK!

* * *

So another year passes…the last year? Even I am not sure…


End file.
